


A Thousand Changes: The Core Doesn't Change

by snowynight



Category: Marvel Ultimates
Genre: Action/Adventure, Gen, Mystery
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-09-19
Updated: 2011-09-19
Packaged: 2017-10-23 21:12:20
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 25,093
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/255017
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/snowynight/pseuds/snowynight
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Steve is on the hunt for discrepancies with SHIELD, that takes him to Hong Kong, only to discover that what he finds might have grave consequences for New York.</p>
            </blockquote>





	A Thousand Changes: The Core Doesn't Change

**Author's Note:**

> Written for the cap-ironman bigbang
> 
> Link to Art: <http://birddi.dreamwidth.org/746.html>  
> Link to Art:<http://shariangel.livejournal.com/1647.html>

Fury was acting strangely.

 

Something important was missing, in the current of cursory glance and speech, and he needed the information. The only way to get it, it seemed, was to hack into the SHIELD computer system. Steve sneaked by the security person, avoided the surveillance cameras and entered the SHIELD control room when he knew that there was a lag time that the security was the weakest. To hack into the SHIELD main computer. The unpatched security back door was still there, and he wondered for a moment whether he should left a note pointing out the problem. But this wasn't his highest priority. He ran his program on his laptop to get the root access of the computer system, and downloaded the secured documents from the terminal into his computer. After finishing the task, he quickly logged out, cut off the network access, downloaded the document via thumbdrives, and cracked the passwords protecting the documents. Only when he was sure that no trace was left that he checked over the document. Most of them were of daily SHIELD operation reports, which were of no interest to him and he deleted them. But one document seemed interesting. He opened it.

This caught Steve's attention. _Laboratory Report: ...The experiment has a new breakthrough with the newly discovered DNA sequence: HNC-2011. Animal experiment shows that the mutated mice have greater strength, stamina and intelligence, superior to the normal mice in every way. Now we have enough confidence that we should move on to human experiment. Super soldier...Hong Kong..._

 

Steve frowned when he saw the words on the screen. Another super soldier program again? It was nothing unusual as Steve knew Fury hadn't given up on the production of super soldiers even after the failure of Bruce, but this didn't seem to be Fury's handiwork. Who would be behind it? It could be a disaster if the involved party didn't have enough biological knowledge, as the fatal super soldier serum experiment result before him proved. If Bruce with his modern science and experience ended up became Hulk, what result would it be in a pair of lesser hands? It was more worrying if they succeeded. There were a lot of things to be done with super soldiers, and Heaven knew what kinds of damage a super soldier could cause. It must be why Fury was paying so much attention to it. Would it be a group of terrorists, or even the China government was involved? No matter what the people involved were and the reason was, Steve saw it to his duty to investigate it alone. He highly doubted that Fury intended him to see the information as he recalled the previous argument with him.

 

  
_At Fury's office, Steve stood to attention and asked, "Why didn't you tell me about the super soldier project SHIELD is running_

  
"It's state secret," Fury said at his desk, not even looking up from the documents.

_  
"I have the clearance for it."_

_"It's above even me," Fury said. "You don't want to know about it. And you won't. Because this's an order." He waved his hand._

_There was only one way to find out who and why, and while it wasn't hard to fly to Hong Kong, there was only one man he could count on to let him fly under the radar of SHIELD._

 

 

The next morning, he waited for Stark's daily rituals to finish, and went up to Stark's study and knocked. He opened the door and saw that Stark was sipping from his glass of wine as usual, lounging against the chair. A nurse was testing Stark's blood pressure.

"I need your help." Steve said. Steve had debated for a more circulatory approach, but then he realized it was Stark, the expert of misdirection. It would waste too much time, and he couldn't afford it.

"Thank you, Miss Land. I wish to see you later, and know you deeper." Stark said to his nurse. When the nurse left, Stark put down his glass of martini on a table, looked at him with amusement. "What? Captain America needs a hand from me? Do tell. "

 

"I need a plane to Hong Kong

"Well, Hong Kong, a good place to go. Not a bad choice."

"It's only part of my request."

"Oh, just part of your request? I know you will say it. Tell me the rest then."

"I need you to help me avoid SHIELD's notice, and I'll appreciate if you don't ask why."

Stark stood up from the chair , leaning toward Steve. "There is business for me to tend to in Hong Kong, and I think I can afford another passenger."

 

"Thank you," Steve said, trying to hide the surprise at Stark's easy acceptance.

 

The next night, Steve had a light bag under his arm and waited for Stark by the highway. Stark nodded at him and Stark's driver drove them to a private airport. Stark's employees were already waiting for them when Steve and Stark got into the aeroplane.

 

The interior of the plane was nothing like the last plane Steve took. It was large, wide and comfortable. The inside wall was laced with wooden panelling, and there were sofas around a round table. It reminded him of what he read about the Oriental Express in novels. There was even a modern kitchen. It was completely unlike the last international flight he took. Steve was amused to think of the flight he took back in the War, when he was packed up there like a bag of potatoes under an order to storm the stronghold. The plane was too slow for his purpose, and he knocked the plane at the stronghold gate to land. The soldiers on the ground though didn't seem to respond fast and just stared at him. He still didn't know why. Ladies, he thought. Steve had taken modern flight since then, but Tony's was among the most luxury.

Enough with the memory trip, he thought. He should concentrate on the self-directed mission in Hong Kong. The SHIELD document was frustratingly vague about the details, and he was in a strange potentially hostile territory. Any moves might be recorded and monitored. He couldn't even rely on the usual information sources. However, he would succeed in his mission, just like always.  
He was surprised to see that there was an actual bed instead of extended chairs but he chose not to question it. He fell to sleep on a big fluffy bed.

 

 

The next morning he woke up to sunlight and returned to his seat. Hong Kong, the last time he heard about it was supposed to be a British territory in the Pacific theatre. Now it returned to the Chinese rule now, delayed by half a century, just like him...

 

It also meant that he had to stay low. He was in... should he call it enemy territory? It's weird when this was just literally months ago to him that China was United States' loyal ally. But now it became a major source of competition of United States. He had to fly under the radar of the local government, not to mention that he couldn't appear as Captain America, lest it led to an International incident. He could imagine Fury's face and the headline, and the trouble with the politicians.

 

"Would you like something, Mr Stark?" The air attendant asked, waking Steve out of the trip of memory.

 

"Well, it depends," Stark replied with a smile. "What can you provide?"

 

"Well, I have everything here," the flight attendant said. Steve now was sure that he heard flirting in her voice. Not interested in the game between them, he said, "A glass of water, please."

 

"All right, Mr Rogers."

 

 

"Maybe we can meet later," Stark said.

 

The attendant left,not before giving Tony a look under lowered lashes.

 

"You're no fun," Stark said with amusement.

 

"You can continue your flirting if you care," Steve said.

 

If anything, Stark's smile got brighter. It annoyed Steve. When he was thinking what to say to Stark, the pilot announced that the plane was about to land and please returned to their seats. The conversation halted.

 

It was morning in Hong Kong time when they arrived in Hong Kong. After the plane landed, they picked up their bags, and left the plane. Steve instinctively checked the surroundings to ensure that he had the floor plan in mind. The security need must be great, with the numbers of airplanes landing and getting off, but there were relatively few armed personnel at the premise. When they passed through the customs, the procedures were laxer than that in New York city. Most of the passengers were allowed to pass through without checking up on them. . Was the government here so lax about the security concern? The airport terminal was made of glass and metal, with a curved roof. Steve hoped that the glass was bullet-proof. Not every point, such as boarding gates, had security check. When they arrived at the Arrival Halls, it was bright, white, modern and clean. Steve remembered once he heard that the airport in Hong Kong was among the most dangerous ones in the world, but now that everything had changed. The staff was professional and efficient. The airport wasn't yet full of people yet, but the sound of different languages merged together and resonated through the place. There were frequent announcement of the next flight coming to the airport. They waited there for a while. Steve surveyed the concession area. There were too many hiding places to his liking. It made him tense.

 

Perhaps that was why when a person in suit approached them, Steve noticed him because even though the suit seemed to be of good quality, it awkwardly fit the person, making him look more like a thug than a businessman. The way he walked and held himself suggested that he probably had a military background. When the man walked straight at them and about to pass by Stark, Steve noticed the bulge under his suit and the way he put this hand under his suit. Did he...Not to think any more, Steve instinctively pounced on the man. He grabbed the man's arm to immobilize him so that the man dropped the gun. Then he kicked the gun away , headbutt him to threw him on the ground.

There was a gun shot. Steve used this moment of surprise to bend the man's arm so hard that he heard a cracking sound, then he shove the gun out of the way. He had the man in a submission hold, stopping his struggle. Around him he could hear that people screamed and ran away from the source of the gun shots. Some left their luggage behind, pulling their children into their arms and took cover.

 

"Talk. Who do you work for?"

 

The man spoke nothing and suddenly his lips turned blue and his breath stopped. Steve relaxed his hold and gave him urgent CPR . He only stopped when a person patted him on his shoulder. He looked up and saw a Chinese woman in a dark blue jacket with the words "Police" on the front , showing her identification cards, saying "Hong Kong police." Another person in white shirt and pants whom Steve supposed was an ambulance worker took over. Steve could see that people around flashed their mobile telephones and cameras at the scene, pretty much forgetting the previous moment of panic . Steve frowned. So much for flying under radar. Stark went to him, not a hair out of place You would have never expected that he nearly escaped death, Steve thought. He admired his nerve though. After all, Stark wasn't in his armour. It was a very real risk. But who did the man want to kill? Who sent him? Steve hated the uncertainty. A known entity would be easier to deal with. And this didn't even happen back in New York.

 

Maybe it was what the assailant and the people behind him wanted, he thought.

 

The woman police officer led Steve and Stark into a police car and then to the police station.

 

"I'm Officer Chan and is in charge of the case. Now, tell me your name and show me your passport,"

 

Steve showed her his passport and Stark followed suit. Their names didn't seem to mean anything to her, as her expression didn't change.

 

"I'm afraid I can't say welcome to Hong Kong to both of you yet. Why do you two come to Hong Kong?"

 

"I'm on a business trip," Stark said.

 

"And you?" Officer Chan asked Steve.

 

Stark said for Steve before Steve could said anything. "He comes with me and he's my bodyguard."

 

Steve looked with as much certainty as he could into Officer Chan's eyes. He wasn't sure why Stark covered for him, but it was nice anyway.

 

 

Officer Chan nodded. Then she led them inside a corridor and asked another policeman to take Stark away. Steve instinctively reached over and Officer Chan said, "Your boss'll be safe with us. We need to take a separate testament from you."

 

She led him into a room with a mirror, of which Steve was certain that another person was sitting outside and hearing on. He didn't say anything about it.

 

"Now give me an account of what'd happened back in the airport. The witness said you jumped on the injured man out of no reason and then there was a gun shot."

 

"I notice that the man was acting unusual and I don't want to take any chances. I'm doing my job. I don't really expect he comes with a gun but when he showed it, I knew I need to disarm him first to prevent casualty."

 

Officer Chan seemed to be in doubt and repeatedly asking him questions with slight variation, presumably to catch him in his lie. Her body language seemed aggressive. Steve was slightly annoyed, but he knew that Officer Chan was just doing her job and he didn't want to aggravate the local force unnecessarily the first day he arrived in Hong Kong.

 

Finally the interrogation was ended and Steve was able to go, but he needed to be in regular contact range with the police. Steve left the police station and a Roll Royce arrived right on the curb in front of the station. A Chinese chauffeur opened the door for him. Steve wasn't surprised that Stark was inside the car. Steve got into the car.

 

"Where're we going?" Steve asked.

 

"Not even a word of comradely condolence? I was not even offered a drink there," Stark sighed dramatically, and then drunk from his glass of wine. Steve supposed that Stark's attitude with alcohol was the ever unchanging feature about the world. He wasn't certain whether he should be relieved.

 

Steve glared at him and Stark seemed to relent. "To the hotel first. I can't show my best side in ruffled clothes."

 

"Do you know who'd want to kill you?" Steve asked.

 

Stark smirked with amusement, "Shalt I count the ways? Many people hate Iron Man; many more want to get rid of Tony Stark. I'm not surprised one would take a shot. But so clumsy? It surprises me."

 

"You should be more serious."

 

"How serious should I be? Well, I have you here. Someone could say you provided adequate protection

 

"I may not be around you everyday. Anyway, should we contact Fury? Although it's not in his jurisdiction..."

 

"When did Fury care about this? But I must say to you the gun shot will probably ruin your plan to be discreet. Don't have any clout here, sorry."

 

"I'll think of a way," Steve said coldly. Things were already complicated enough without this episode. However, the timing of the gunman was too creepy. Stark offered to take him out of sudden, and there was no way someone could have predicted their arrival. So there must be a plant in Stark's staff. Moreover, it only happened when he came to Hong Kong to investigate the project. Would the enemy already know about his goal and set out to eliminate either or both of them? But the gun man seemed too much an amateur to kill him. Things didn't seem right. Would it be a warning , thinking that it would deter him? Then they underestimated him too much. This didn't sound like SHIELD. Fury had no reason to kill Stark. Then who? Stark's personal enemy? Someone who hated Ultimates? Then he realized that he knew too little about Stark to have an accurate guess. But with Stark's status, this could be a threat to national security. Steve looked at Stark's amused face and wished that he would be more serious. Anyway, all these options suddenly complicated his plans

 

 

Steve would have had a headache if the super soldier serum allowed it.

 

To distract himself and not wanting to continue the conversation, Steve looked out from the window. The traffic wasn't initially heavy. Outside the window there was first a lot of nature, then they crossed the sea on an impressively long metal bridge. In fact, Steve wondered if it would collapse under strong wind, like the accident he heard about back in the states. When they crossed over the sea, the traffic got heavier. There were a lot of two-stored buses with colourful picture painted on them and red cars with the word taxi in the white light on the roof. There were also a lot of buildings, old and new with large billboards hanging to the streets. Steve wondered whether they would fall off, but the pedestrians didn't seem to worry about it. In fact, the pedestrians here were as aggressive as the New Yorkers and stormed out to walk across the street whether the cars stopped moving or not.

 

Finally they arrived at the hotel. It was called Peninsula Hotel and its classic colonial structure dwarfed among the tall buildings around it. They checked in and the staff there carried their luggage to the rooms. Steve's room was opposite Stark's and it looked very nice - There was a view of ocean and buildings across the harbour. The furniture looked like they came from a past classics era but well preserved. Steve thanked the staff, and took a hot shower. (It was a slight luxury he allowed to himself.) He heard a knock when he was drying himself so he put on a clean shirt and put a towel around his waist to receive the door. It was Stark.

 

Stark gave him a look over, then said, "Nice outfit you have here. What about a meal together? The restaurant 's good."

 

 

Steve said, "You don't need to tend to your business? I thought you were a room service guy."

 

"I can't be a good host if I ignore my bodyguard, right. You have a whole day in a beautiful city. You shouldn't spend the time sulking."

 

"I don't sulk. Let me put on something first."

 

"You don't let me in? I'm hurt."

 

"Suit yourself."

 

Steve put on a pair of pants and then followed Tony to the lobby. He was impressed by it. It was a place of grandeur and history. The chairs and tables were so gracious and delicate-looking that Steve worried it would break under his weight. But the chair held him all right. Steve started to feel self-conscious about his casual clothing in such an environment but Stark didn't seem to notice. The lobby was full of tourists from different countries, and some Chinese people. Steve supposed that they were locals. There was a line of people queuing for the tea but the waiter just let them in without waiting. He glanced at Stark with a question in his eyes.

 

"I hate to disillusion you in my magic touch, but here the residents don't need to queue."

 

The waiters there were quiet as cat. Steve let Stark ordered for him and soon two cup of tea and desserts arrived.

 

"It 'isn't filling at all."

 

"The point of high tea is to enjoy the experience here. "

 

The food was good. There were sandwiches, muffins, cakes, pastry and scones. The sandwiches were tasty, and the rest catered to Steve's secret sweet teeth. When Steve was eating the lunch, he felt unreal . Here there was nothing that could connect him to his mission. The food was light and sweet, the people were talking and smiling lightly, and the environment seemed deceptively safe. It didn't seem like hours before a gun shot abruptly signalled the opening of this day in Hong Kong for them. Steve suddenly had a thought that the Hong Kong trip would be like this, a mask everywhere, with surprising and even nasty truths underneath.

 

After the meal, Stark went to his office, not before leaving a smart phone with Steve. He said, "I have my phone numbers recorded. Phone me any time you need. Well not exactly any time, but I trust that you can make a sensible decision."

 

Steve took it and decided himself that he would use as little of it as possible. What would he have use of this?

 

Steve left the hotel by himself with a map. He decided to walk out to familiarize himself with the place around the hotel, and while he wouldn't admit to himself honestly, he had never done sight-seeing before, let alone in a foreign country. Hong Kong was just a name to him in the War, and now he had a chance to see it. There was a tinge of excitement in his heart.

 

Hong Kong was hot, Steve found. He felt that he was walking into a wall of hot mist once he was out of the air-conditioned hotel. When he left the hotel he was on Salisbury Road, according to the map. A name which was clearly brought from the colonial day. He turned left and went to a wider road with double lane. Opposite the roads were shopping malls with high buildings and glass walls. On the street the people were mostly Chinese, but with people of other races. However, he still would stand out here. This might be an obstacle he needed to face.

 

The road sign told him that he was on Nathan road, the main road in this side of land. He wondered if he should be glad that the main roads here were of names familiar in a way. He knew here was once a battleground with Japanese army air dropping and marching from the side of China, but hard as he searched, he didn't see any signs that there had been a war.

 

Hong Kong people must be a resilient sort, he thought.

 

Out of a whim, he walked to the ferry pier according to the map direction. There was a clock tower near it. When he went inside the piers, he saw that the passengers before him used a card to possibly to pay the fare. Then he realized that he didn't had such a card. However, the ticket office was just beside it and he went to it to buy a ticket.

 

The staff there was a middle-aged Chinese man, who asked in accented English, "Where do you want to go?"

 

Steve hesitated, then he said, "Central." Because the tourist' guide said that it was the heart of Hong Kong. Beside, every tourist should go to the Peak, it said.

 

"Two dollars please."

 

Steve handed out 2 dollars. The man looked at it , made a face and said, "I meant two Hong Kong dollars."

 

Steve didn't have coins but he did exchange for the Hong Kong bank notes before getting to Hong Kong. He handed a red bank note to him. The man returned three green bank notes, a purple one, and 4 coins. Then the man said and pointed, "Put the coin inside the machine."

 

"This's plastic," Steve pointed at the purple one

 

The man said, "It's newly issued legal money. Don't worry."

 

Steve checked it up and saw the secret marks, so he decided to believe the man. It doesn't seem to worth it to argue with the man. He dropped the coin into the machine and passed it. Then he got into the ferry.

 

The ferry here had two floors and was white and green. There were a lot of tourists on the ferry, but there were also Chinese people in casual clothes, so he suspected that they were locals. It seemed more real this way.

 

Steve went to Central and walked to the peak tram station to take a ride. The tram looked old but sturdy, and he had never taken one like this before. There was a shopping mall above it. He went to the top and appreciated the scenery of Hong Kong. Looking down there were a lot of buildings cramped in a small place.

 

When he returned to Central again, something told him that he was being followed. He stopped to admire something in a store window and casually scanned people behind him and .on the other side of the road. He made a rough note of anyone within distance, especially things such as height and the shoes. He walked again, stopped after a few hundred meters and took a look around. There was someone familiar.

 

He continued to walk as if everything was normal, and stopped by a car with darkened window to see the reflection of the person behind him. He didn't recognize the person, but this was a Chinese man in casual clothes. He remembered the person's face and started to plan how to get rid of him.

 

He walked to a corner and made sure that he was out of sight. Then he took out a blue cap and a pair of sunglasses from his jacket and put them on. There might be nothing to do with hiding his height, but he could at least hide his eyes and hair. Then he lengthened his stride to speed up.

 

Now he played the cat-and-mouse game with his follower. He entered a large shop and immediately left by another exit; went down a narrow alley and, while out of sight, sprinted around a corner and doubled up his tracks. Only when he was certain that he lost the tail he returned to the hotel.

 

Once he was back in his hotel room, he checked if there was a sight of intrusion. Then he looked over the hiding places to make sure the room was clean from bugs. When he was finally relaxed, He looked outside the window. It was already night and he found that the sea view was even more impressive at this period of time. With the buildings lit up, the combined glamorous effect was really impressive. This was a colourful glittering city, like a diamond in the ocean. But Steve 's mind was fixed on his tail. Who was him? Who sent him? What was the purpose of it? If he was already tracked, this meant that the enemy was already watching up. He was too relaxed today.

 

Next day. Next day he would do his work.

 

The next morning he woke up at the usual early hour. He did push-ups, stretches-up and other warm-ups. Maybe they were not necessary, but a soldier didn't keep his body lazy. The he took a shower and when he was about to leave, his phone rang . When he answered it was Stark's voice. "You may want to see something. Come."

 

Steve came to Stark's room and knocked his door. He only opened the door when he heard Stark's response. When he walked inside Stark was in his bathing coat, lazying on the bed and smiling at him. He looked like a picture of decadence. Another man pulling this would be easily dismissed, but Stark made it look smart.

 

"You're on the headline," Stark said, "Should be proud of it."

 

"How do you know?"

 

"Technology, my friend," Stark said, pointing at something on a small table next to his bed. Steve went to it and saw a large tablet with a Stark logo . He held it in his hand and found that it was surprisingly light. On it a picture of him frowning was on some newspaper front page, next to a larger photo of Stark. The headline said, "Tony Stark cheated death at airport" The smaller subtitle said, "Captain America involved?"

 

"I don't see what's so amusing," Steve frowned. Now that more people knew his face, it would be harder for him to achieve his goal in Hong Kong. He must think of some contingency plans then. He thought of the tail last night. Would it be related to it? "Did the police officer say anything?"

 

"Officer Chan didn't talk to me at first, citing confidential information for investigation. But finally she loosened up and told me that the person who wanted to kill us was poisoned with cyanide. Whoever hired him didn't want to take any chances."

 

Steve noticed the use of the word , 'us', but he didn't comment on it. "Have you any idea who want to kill you?"

 

"You're like a parrot. Same question again," Despite Stark's words, there was tension on his face. Steve supposed that Stark must have thought on similar course like him; Stark wasn't stupid.

 

Steve said, "You need to upgrade the security."

 

"Be careful. You're caring."

 

"The culprit may be targeting the Ultimates." Steve pointed out. Assessing risk to a team mate was a part of his job.

 

"Oh, all right. Thanks for your concern."

 

Who did the killer want to kill? Stark or him? Steve mused.

 

  
When Steve left the hotel, he found himself surrounded by a small crowd of reporters. A microphone was pushed in to his face and the person asked, "Do you want to comment on Yesterday's shooting?"

 

Another reporter knocked off the others to get before him. "There's rumour that you come for a black ops operation. What do you want to comment on it?"

 

There were a lot of shouting. Cameras blinked at him and there were several TV station cameras. The crowd 's questions mixed together to form meaningless noise and Steve tried hard to hide his annoyance. He didn't expect that much news-hounds. He had many an encounter with the pundits back in New York, but never so annoying. He might fight for freedom or press, but it was a chore to deal with them. Steve wanted to shove the microphone away from his face, but he realized that this might be what the reporters wanted: a fuss, so he breathed deeply.

 

Steve was saved from answering the reporters' questions when the reporters suddenly dispersed and left him for another target. Steve was surprised, looked toward the direction they went and saw Stark coming out, immediately surounded by the reporters and their questions. 

 

"Mr. Stark, what do you want to comment on yesterday's shoot out? Mr. Stark... "

 

Stark wore his annoying business smile and said, "I'll hold a press conference very soon but for now..."

 

"Mr. Stark..."

 

Stark pushed through the crowd, signalled to Steve and got into the car.

 

"The mass media here 's really annoying, much more than New York's." Steve commented.

 

"Well, a gun shot isn't common in Hong Kong, not to mention that it involved good looking people like us. Besides, I haven't paid them enough to look away."

 

"Are you serious?" Steve asked. He had supposed that the press acted nice to the people who protected their city, but now Stark saying that... He wanted to ask further but Stark cut in, "Just kidding. But this kind of attention is ... unusual."

 

"What do you mean?"

 

"I woke up today and saw my name all over the newspapers, magazines here and the Internet. It may be because of my good looks, genius, and wealth. It may also because it's arranged somehow."

 

"Someone's targeting you?"

 

"Possibly. Scandal sells, and this's not good for business."

 

It could be worrying. Stark as a successful merchant and member of Ultimates was an important asset to the country. Whoever wanted to attack him may have a bigger plan behind it. Steve told himself that it was the only reason he cared. "We need to find out who they are."

 

"No offense, but I think you mean me."

 

"Why?"

 

"Well, Captain America is an important name back in US, but not in Hong Kong, not as much as mine. Don't worry too much. I may not have as much clout here, but I have my methods."

 

"Please tell me if I can help in anyway."

 

"Don't get yourself into headlines again. It'll be the biggest help."

 

"I'll keep it in mind."

 

"Do you want to go somewhere? I have a meeting to go to."

 

"No. Please take me back to the hotel."

 

Back to his room, Steve predicted that he would regret it, but he still switched on his computer, accessed the wireless, and started to check his email. The first email was from Jan, who so considerately sent him a scan of an article speculating the relationship between Stark and him, with words highlighted. Should he be glad he was in contact with Jan again, or should he worry? The second email was from Clint. He deleted it without looking at it: It was probably a joke at his expense. Though he might be glad for Clint noticing something other than his family tragedy, he had no intention to be let that be at his expense.

 

Then he noticed another email. The subject was "Want to know more about the Project? 223 Chung King Mansion." It looked like a spam, but it was also possible that it might be a lead or a clue to you-know-what. He ran an anti-virus check to make sure it was safe, then he opened it. The message itself was empty, but the attachment was a low resolution picture of a lab, where some people in white coats seemed to be doing some kinds of experiment. Was it connected to his investigation? Steve tried to trace the I.P. address, but it seemed to be from a public computer. On the one hand, it could be a trap. Steve's email address was private and the anonymous person must use some methods to get it. On the other hand, could Steve afford to not follow the lead?

 

He wished that he could be back in New York, rather than in a foreign city, where he was far away from his contact and network. Stark was the only person he knew here, and in a way he was trustful for his unpredictability, but it was not useful to find out the secret. Moreover, as he was in a hostile territory, it meant that Captain America was no longer an asset, but a burden to his current mission. He had gone on black-ops missions before and fulfilled the mission target, but at least then he was briefed and supported by his superior, not working alone. Now he practically came here half-blind, trying to find the rules to a new game he joined when half of the session was over.

 

Perhaps that was the reason the project was set up in Hong Kong, to prevent American people from tracing them back in the states. But they must have left some traces. Would the local government here be involved? If so, there were bigger things for him to worry about. The local government was said to have a certain degree of independence from the China, but it after all was part of China's territory. It wasn't the days of James Bond, or even John le Carre in his _Honour Student_ , which Steve read at one night to catch up with the future, to this modern time. It wasn't a No Man's Land. Everyone must in some degree defer to the local government.

 

At the end he decided to go. A trap or not, if he could get the person, he would be one step near the answer. Even if it was a trap, Steve was sure he could handle it.

 

Steve checked the Internet for a map to find the location of Chung King Mansion. The first result showed that it contained over eighty low -classed guest houses and the exteriors reminded him of the compounds he lived back in 30's. It was surprisingly close to the hotel.

 

Steve walked to the Chung King Mansion, pulling the cap down. His build attracted a lot of glances, and he only hoped that among the multi-racial crowd, he would look less suspicious. On the street people marched toward their destination with a single mind, crashed onto the road like the New Yorkers. A man in suit strode beside an old woman painfully pulling her trolleys with cardboards. Young people were talking with their hand-free phones. He went into the building and was attacked with strong scent of spices. Several South Asian men tried to pull him aside to recommend him an Indian restaurant, but he politely rejected everyone and took the stairs. When he walked to the room labelled 223 and knocked on it, a woman with a pair of black sunglasses and a golden wig walked out of it and asked, "Do you want to know your past?"

 

Steve had a feeling of deja vu and remembered that the dialogue came from a book. Not certain, he answered his true answer, "I only want to know the future."

 

"Then go to..."

 

A group of men rushed into the corridor, with weapons in their hands. The woman slipped Steve a piece of paper, and then she ran. Judging that he didn't want to cause more incidents, Steve followed her. Then suddenly she hugged him and pressed a kiss to his lips and said, "Take care of them for me, please." And then the woman disappeared into the fire door. When he recovered, he was already surrounded by several armed people.

 

Steve didn't think talking would work, but he tried any way. "Let me out. I'm not interested in fighting you."

 

One of them said, "Then you shouldn't meddled in our business." Another already tried to pounce on Steve.

 

Not interested in fighting, Steve dodged the weapon attack, kicked him from below and evaded another's fist. Then he ran toward another the fire door and up the stairs. Finally he ran into one of the rooms with an open door . It might be big, but Steve could hardly judge because it was full of people. He also noticed that there was only a small window. It must be why the room was filled with smell of food and sweat. There were many South Asians and people of other races having their meals around several tables and they all turned to look at him. A Chinese man walked out from the kitchen and asked, "Do you come here for the food? It's s soup kitchen and the food is free."

 

"Thanks," Steve said. He took a bowl of curry from the man and started to eat, well aware that many eyes were on him. He tasted the food. The rice with curry was good.

 

Finally one of the man touched his sleeves and whispered, "Any chance you work for the ASP Company?"

 

"Why ask?"

 

"I heard that the company can arrange for you faster process to get to US. Surely those pay for it must have got on the boat. If..."

 

Human trafficking? It's a civilian crime, but Steve thought his duty to ask for more information. "Perhaps. You talk about..."

 

Then Steve heard heavy footsteps running toward the direction. Not wanting to involve other people, he put down the bowl of food, said thank you to the cook, and then ran out of the room.

 

The chaser tried to surround him and one of them thumped a fist at him. Steve ducked the fist and pulled the arm to hit another. Then he kicked the third man to the ground.

 

Finally the people got smart enough and started to run away from him. Steve grabbed one of them and asked, "Tell me your business with the woman and me."

 

"You should know. You work with the woman."

 

"Perhaps I want you to refresh my memory."

 

"She betrayed us. That's why. If you 're insistent on working against us, one day we'll catch up with you."

 

"Let's see. Who sent you?"

 

"People much more important than you."

 

"Aren't you afraid? I can kill you."

 

"My people'll get you."

 

Steve released the guy and knocked him down. Then he left the building and walked the longer way back to the hotel, in case he was being followed. Only back into the room he checked the slip of paper. There was a date, time and an co-ordinate on it. It must be the next contact location.

 

Steve didn't like being left in the dark. Now he felt that someone was watching his move, but he didn't know how he could find it out.

 

  
He looked up the company name he was told in the soup kitchen on the Internet. It was a new company that just had its office in Hong Kong. The company was registered in Switzerland. The few information he found about the company showed that it was in biological chemistry trade. Why would such a company be connected to human trafficking? It seemed to be too elaborate for a cover. Then he heard Stark's footsteps. Steve closed the program window.

 

"You're on the Internet again. By the way, the way you thumped a fist at that guy's totally cool. You should teach me some time."

 

"What do you mean?"

 

"Search 'Captain America Bully' on Youtube."

 

Steve did what he said, and soon they were watching his fight at the Chung King Mansion. Who recorded it? The people who attacked him? The one who sent for him there? A third mysterious party? His every moves were watched, and he didn't like the feeling. The You tube user only have this video uploaded in the account, and this video attracted a lot of hits and comments in the short time it was uploaded.

 

"How do you find it?"

 

"I'm not like you. I keep ahead of the Internet trend."

 

"I... Do you have any progress on who's defaming us?"

 

"Not yet. It's really a nice turn of incident with you as the media's darling. "

 

"Don't make a joke, Stark."

 

"Why? It's funny."

 

"Did the police here discover anything about the gun man?"

 

"Well, the man has a rap sheet as long as my arm. He's a professional all right. And you'll be interested to know that Officer Chan wanted you again for your stunt."

 

Steve frowned. "That mean with him being unconscious, the lead is cold now. Is he under security detail?"

 

"Yes. The police here said they didn't want to take any chances."

 

"I'll follow it up."

 

"All right. It's the address. The driver will take you there."

 

Steve went to the reception desk to ask for the way to the ward. The hospital was large and had a smell of disinfectant. When he reached the corridor the ward was on , it was guarded by a young policeman. He was about to reach him when he saw that a doctor was approaching. Something about him didn't look right. The coat didn't fit him and he looked hesitant. When the doctor was stopped by the policeman on guard, there was a glint of silver, the policeman shouted and blood flowing and tainting his green uniform. The man then pushed the policeman away, trying to get into the room, only to be pulled by the policeman. Steve immediately took action. He ran to the fake doctor, catching his arm and bent his armed hand to behind, trying to disarm him. The man cussed, trying to headbutt Steve, but Steve pressed harder on the man's joint and pressed. There was a sound the joint was dislocated and the man screamed.

 

"Who sent you?" Steve asked.

 

The man struggled, "Release me!"

 

Steve knocked him down and checked the vital signs of the policeman. He was still breathing.

 

A nurse came and seeing the situation, she immediately took over the first aid on the policeman.

 

More police officers arrived and took over the man.

 

"You'd better tell the truth. Your employer wants you dead and only we can protect you," the police officer said.

 

"Snake Lee is the middle man. I only know this."

 

Leaving the ward, Steve asked the officer, "Who's Snake Lee?"

 

"A triad boss. Now that we have a lead, we can follow it." The police officer added, " Thanks for taking action. Now if you don't mind..."

 

"More testimony again?" Steve sighed.

 

Officer Chan didn't seem to be very happy to see him. "The You Tube short film involving you is a great hit on Internet and attracted the media. Understand this, the reason why we don't press charges against you isn't because we are under political pressure, but actually we have no witnesses to step forward."

 

Steve swallowed his temper and carefully said, "If the film 's real, and I 'm not saying this is, I'm acting on my right of self-defense."

 

"This can only be confirmed by investigation. But thank you for saving my colleague. Now if you don't mind..."

 

"Shoot," Steve sighed.

 

When Steve returned from the police station to the hotel, Stark welcomed him. "You have to be an action hero." Stark said. "Are you on a kick to enact every cheesy action movie scene?"

 

"Youtube again?"

 

"Youtube again."

 

"The same person?"

 

"A different I.P."

 

"Do you think they're connected?"

 

"Possible, but difficult to prove. You're in a city with the world's highest density of camera phones, you have a high profile, everyone want to get a piece of you, malicious intentions or not."

 

"I wish I could have them put down."

 

"Freedom of speech, my friend."

 

Steve didn't ask how Stark knew this. Sometimes he thought that he was in a society not unlike 1984, but instead of the big brother there were constant media and mobile phone camera surveillance. "I thought you would be more grateful." Steve said, "Anyway, There's a new lead. A man called Snake Lee."

 

"Well, we'll need to wait for the police investigation then. Do you have fun in the Chung King Mansion? The curry there's good, I heard."

 

"Fine." Steve didn't need to think long to hide the truth. Stark didn't need to know anyway.

 

"If you want to do touristy thing, you'd do better outside Tsim Sha Tsui. This's a touristy place."

 

"It seems that you have much experience."

 

"I see it my duty to find enjoyment everywhere."

 

"No thanks."

 

"Spoilsport. I need to get to work. See you."

 

"Didn't know you have a job."

 

"Ha. This is the job that feeds my habits They're expensive, you know."

 

Steve debated with himself for awhile and then said, "Do you need me to come with you? For security detail?"

 

"To give the media more bullets? Well, if Captain America wants to go with me, who am I to argue?"

 

Steve followed Stark out of the hotel and this time there was a Ferrari. Stark opened the door to the side of driver's seat and got in while Steve sat next to him and went to Stark's office. There Stark got to work, signing the paper work, looking at the computer screen, and listening to reports. He seemed to be focused. Steve hadn't seen much of Stark's this facet. It made sense, Steve supposed. If Stark was just a drunk, he couldn't stay on the top for long. Steve recorded it as a factor in his reassessment of Stark.

 

"You can pick a book. Then you would be less bored."

 

Steve randomly picked one from the shelf. It was called _Tales of Cthulhu Mythos_ . The name sounded familiar but he couldn't say why. Anyway it was a good way to spend the hours before his mystical meeting. With the pervasive media coverage, he didn't want to take any unnecessary moves. The name did sound like they we mythology stories. He hoped it would be a good read.

 

To his surprise, it was a series of horror stories instead of mythology tales. Checking the introduction, he found that it was actually a tribute to Lovecraft, a writer that lived in his times. It brought him back warm memory of sparing coins to buy Astounding Science Fiction. The qualities of the stories were varied, but the description of Cthulhu reminded him uncomfortably of _Gah Lak Tus_ , only more undefeatable. He checked up the Lovecraft person on the Internet using his Stark tablet given by Stark as a gift and decided not to read up more of his stories, although Steve was curious if this man somehow got wind of the presence of Gah Lak tus before its actual appearance. Strangers things happened. . Steve wondered why Stark kept such a book in his office. But then, Stark was weird.

 

After Stark's work was done, Steve and Stark walked int the car and Stark said, "Let me show you something."

 

"No strip clubs again."

 

Stark smiled, amused. "Your choice then. Want to be in the oh so wild nature?"

 

"I grew up in Brooklyn. "

 

"Just kidding. I'll take you somewhere good."

 

Steve expected to be led to some bisque joints that Stark frequented, but he was surprised to be led to a plain old compound building. Stark led him up the stairs and went to an unlabelled door. Stark knocked it three times and the door open, with a Chinese middle-aged woman inside. She was small, but seemed unfazed by them. .

 

"Come in Mr. Stark. Mr. Rogers"

 

Steve followed the woman into the dining room and notices that the decoration was cozy. Suddenly he had a sense of yearning when he thought of his home, not the recent apartment, not the Mansion, but the home back in 1930's when his family was still intact. He quickly turned his mind to the pleasant. A man struck in the now had no business indulging his home thought. It would only make him weak.

 

"What's the special today?"

 

"Well, the fish and shrimps in the market are very good today, and..."

 

Steve was initially listening, but then the woman skillfully invited him into the conversation and Steve found himself discussing the subtlety of flavours between minced meat and roasted meat. The woman smiled and then said, "Please wait here. I hope we'll enjoy the food."

 

When the woman left, Steve asked Stark, "What's this place?"

 

"It's a private fine eatery. Not many know about it. You have to have the money, the contacts and... "

 

"You must have often brought your clients here."

 

"Usually I reserve it for myself."

 

Steve didn't know how to interpret the words so he was silent.

 

Then the food arrived. It was a dish of shrimp with green vegetables. The shells were already peeled off and the shrimp looked fresh. When Steve tasted it, there was a nuanced sweet taste that Steve couldn't distinguish that only enhanced the flavour of the shrimp.

 

The second dish arrived and it was oyster and salad roll. However, Steve noticed that the dish served before Stark was different. It looked like spring rolls.

 

"What's this?"

 

"Fried flower rolls. Too weird for your bland American tastes."

 

"I fought in a war. I survived on whatever I could find in the wild."

 

"Then try it."

 

Steve took one and bit. It tasted surprisingly better than what it sounded. There was mixture of salty, sweet and sour flavour. Weirdly they combined very well and other than a mess, it just tasted good.

 

Then a very clear soup came and Steve couldn't quite distinguish half of what was inside the soup, but it tasted good. Steve drank all of it.

 

The woman came again and brought tea to them. Steve frowned at the tea as there was neither sugar nor milk. However, Stark didn't say anything so he refrained from commenting on it. Stark put a cup to his lips and started to sip from it so Steve followed suit. It surprisingly wasn't bitter at all. After Steve finished it, he felt that his stomach felt lighter.

 

The next course for this dinner seemed more familiar. It was tender beef rib. Then there was tea again, but tasted different.

 

During the course of the dinner Stark said few things, unlike what he would do usually. Steve supposed that good food could shut anyone up including Stark. After the full course of dinner, Stark asked "Enjoy the night?"

 

"Thanks," Steve said, half expecting Stark ribbing back. Stark only smiled back.

 

 

* * *

 

 

When they left the restaurant, Stark asked, "Where're you going now? Do you need a lift?"

 

"No, thanks," Steve said. He had a meeting to go. Any chance of secrecy would be ruined by Stark's flamboyant Ferrari.

 

"All right, I'll leave you now. Remember don't return home after 12."

 

Steve rolled his eyes at Stark. Stark laughed.

 

Leaving the building, as the meeting place was within his walking distance, which he confirmed from asking passerby, Steve walked to the Kowloon Park. Comparing to Central Park, it could only be described as a spot. But considering how Hong Kong was cramped with building, this green land must seem unique to people here. When he arrived at the entrance, he took up the steps and found that there was a pool with birds, with trees lining the place. It was quiet, with not many people here. Steve could see that why his mysterious sender thought this was a good place.

 

Then Steve noticed a man sitting there, wearing a green scarf. It was unusual, say the least, considering how hot Hong Kong was. The man returned his glance, gestured him to come to him, and then walked. Steve followed.

 

"Keep walking," The man said when Steve was getting close. "I'm not sure if I'm being watched, but better safe than sorry. , The place you want to go is here." He dropped a paper ball to the ground. When Steve picked it up and rolled it back into a sheet of paper, there was an address written down.

 

"How can I be sure you're telling the truth?" Steve asked.

 

"There's a folder near the rubbish bin ahead of you. Pick it up and you'll know that I say is the truth."

 

"What's in it for you?"

 

"Let's say I do it for the truth and justice." The man said "I'm leaving. Don't follow me."

 

Steve picked up the file and returned to the hotel.

 

 

* * *

 

 

After carrying out the usual security precaution procedure in his hotel room, Steve only started to read the files when he was sure there was no bugs in the room.

 

  
Steve frowned at the content of the file. The US military set up a front company in Hong Kong so they can run a secret biological lab, in order to make use of the more relaxed lab regulation here to study genetically modified super soldier. Their source of experiment targets come from refugees awaiting result from various governments. The refugees are tricked into it because they don't have an identity in Hong Kong. The mortality rate of the experiment was high. Steve wasn't surprised that his government carried out another super soldier plan, but using the refugees to be the guinea pigs? All sanctioned by the army's top brass?

 

On the other hand, everything seemed too easy. Perhaps everything was a trap laid by the enemy. How come the man just knew his email and contacted him? What was his motive in everything?

 

Steve found himself hesitating to make a next move. The information in the folder could damn the army. On the other hand, if it were a fake, it meant a nefarious plot against the US military. And the US had a lot of enemies. Steve didn't want to be a pawn in hurting his country, but he also didn't want the truth to be concealed. He was on an intel mission alone, with no network he could rely on, no people he knew and trust, except.....

 

Steve made a decision and knocked on Stark's door. Stark was sitting on a chair, looked up from his netbook when Steve entered and asked, "You seem more frowny than usual. What's happened?"

 

"Can you... do me another favour?"

 

"You military type, always so strange. All right. What do you need me to do?"

 

 

* * *

 

 

  
Steve was surprised that Stark said yes to his request so easily, but then Stark was idiosyncratic. He waited for Stark to get the information of the company while he worked hard to find out more about the company itself, the further move of HSL Project and who were targeting Stark and him. Then the next morning when Steve woke up and went to the restaurant to have breakfast with Stark, he handed a file to Steve before he left. Steve didn't know how Stark got all of the information, but he started to read it. On the top there was a note signed with a colon and a closed bracket. The information was very comprehensive, from every news report of the company, every public statement, and some private documents that Steve suspected Stark got them through unconventional channels.

 

Anyway it was a beginning. Steve studied it.

 

The public information showed that the company’s main trade was in biochemistry research and its office in Hong Kong was in Hong Kong Science & Technology Park. It didn't seem to make a profit, judging from the audited financial reports that Stark oh -so helpfully added- post it notes in simple words. There didn't seem to be any mention of the company's future plans either. However, the utility cost of the company was very high and its employees all had American military background. Steve looked up the information of the president of the company and there were none. Interesting.

 

When he clipped to the last page of the document, a note read, "Glad you'd finally overcame your upbringing to express an interest in business. Join me at a party tomorrow night. You should get more information."

 

Stark. Steve put down the file and frowned. It was totally like him that assume Steve brought his tux everywhere. To provide better concealment, he mostly brought clothes typical of a tourist: T-shirt, jeans, bomber jacket. He even left those with the stars and stripes behind home.

 

Fortunately he brought a tux for the trip.

 

Carefully put the file in the deposit box, Steve tried to figure out how the pieces of information could match. This company was apparently a front, but what was it a front for?

 

Steve met Stark at the lobby of the hotel. Stark was already in his tux, flirting with some ladies. He paused when he saw Steve. "Glad you're able to join the party," Stark said.

 

"You asked me to."

 

"Well, you had a choice.".

 

They got into Stark's car and arrived at the ball room. Soon they were separated as Stark was pulled off by some business people. When they met again, Stark was drinking from another glass of wine. Steve lost count of how much he drunk.

 

"Do you think you drink too much?"

 

"The best way to the business's through a glass of wine, or under the sheets."

 

"You are certain it would be helpful?" Steve frowned.

 

 

 

"Don't worry. Your target would come. Stark Company has a bit of face here. Here he is." Stark smiled lazily at the guests, sipping from his glass of wine and shook hands with the person Steve came here for..

 

"We should discuss further about future cooperation. We Americans have to unite," Tony said, looking straight into the person's eyes.

 

The person smiled awkwardly. He had the same posture of Steve, only that his eyes were dimmer than him.

 

The guy was military, and he appeared to know less about business than Steve, and it was saying something. His subterfuge skill could do better too, as Steve witnessed how Stark skillfully lured information out of his mouth. After the conversation stopped, Stark leaned over to Steve and whispered, "HSL Project."

 

"What?" Steve asked.

 

"The project he was working on."

 

"How do you know?"

 

"I have my methods. Now I need to entertain other guests. Suit yourself."

 

Steve left the party early to the hotel once his purpose was fulfilled. When he returned to his room, he checked if the toothpick he put on the door was still in the same place. It was. The he checked if anything was moved. There seemed to be nothing wrong with the room. But he wasn't certain yet. If the intruder had the skill as a SHIELD agent, it would be an easy job for them take a photo and restored things to the original place. He switched on the TV to cover the notice, then he checked the lamp, the painting, and under the bed for bug. When he was finally certain, he switched on his computer and scanned it to make sure if it was clean of virus and Trojan Horse. Only after he was sure that everything was clean that he connected to the Internet and hacked into the military computer network. He used a program to survey the numerous files to find the information he needed. This would be an informative night. He discovered certain useful files that could contain the information he needed and after checking them for traps, he downloaded them to his computer to read them. The files were encoded, so he ran another program to decode the files. There were a lot of codes, but he was used to the way of military writing and soon pieced together the information about HSL Project.

 

HSL Project was the brain child of the army. To win a bigger budget and the rivalry between other branches of the military, the army top brass, like Nick Fury, saw the genetics as the future of the army. Unlike Nick Fury though, it gave up the super soldier serum project and decided to branch into a new direction.

 

The Project was set up just after Steve's return to the 21st century, as the top brass now saw the positive impact of a good old super soldier. However, the army decided that Steve was too "independent-thinking" and "allied with SHIELD" for the army's own good. A batch of docile super soldiers are what the army wanted.

 

At first, HSL project 's prospect didn't look positive as it also had a high mortality cost and 100% failure rate, just like SHIELD's so the army kept it secret. To prevent the project from leaking into the US public, the brass decided to set up a front company in Hong Kong. Any accidents then can be blamed on the Chinese government spy action. There was never talk of giving up though. Lives were cheap, and what was one more life if the army could one-man up SHIELD?

 

Recently HSL project got a breakthrough with the newly developed DNA sequence. The army tested it out on the refugees waiting for a result in Hong Kong because they had no countries, no identity, no network, and in other words, expendable. The documents launched into a profit-cost analysis of how to achieve the biggest result with the lowest cost. There was nothing in it to deal with the ethnicity of the project.

 

Steve was silent for a long time.

 

What should he do with the information?

 

He could forget it, destroy what was in his hands, but he was never one to choose easy ignorance than bitter truth. Besides, he had involved himself so much that he doubted he could just throw it aside and hope for the best. No. things would just get more and more out of control.

 

And he was in a strange place, only with...

 

Steve debated with himself for awhile, then he gave the file to Stark, without saying anything. Stark picked up and started to read it. Steve lifted a hand wanting to take the file back, but he retreated his hand instead. Stark sighed and put down the file after he finished reading.

 

"I know the government is keen on genetically modified soldiers, but..." Steve said.

 

"The way you're set up you're prone to disappointment."

 

"What should we do?" Steve wasn't in the mood to banter with Stark.

 

"Nothing, or a lot. We can bring it into the open, but probably no one will believe us, and whoever behind can cover up this. We can't exactly storm into the lab......"

 

"Why not?"

 

"All right. It's an option. If we have more solid evidence, we can use it as leverage to get the top brass to stop it. Or I can buy the front company and order it to stop. To let them know we're on to them. Bu you want to storm it anyway, right? All right. Let me pick up something."

 

"You'd better stay. It may be dangerous. Beside if the media catches wind of both you and I..."

 

"You think the media catching wind of you isn't bad enough?"

 

"It is highly risky. You are a civilian without the Iron Man suit."

 

"I don't think you should mind so much. Besides you may need me to crack the security facilities."

 

"You can go with me."

 

"I know you'dl see reason. Let me break out the car..."

 

"No. Your Ferrari 's too flamboyant."

 

Stark pouted. Steve stared at him. Then Stark smiled, "All right, no Ferrari. We had to take a cab then. Do you know where it is?"

 

"Science & Technology Park."

 

"Well, I have never taken public transport to there. Thanks for gifting me with this experience."

 

"You are welcome."

 

"There's one more step we need to take. I need to have the address translated into Chinese. Our cab driver may not recognize the address in English."

 

"I think this has been a British colony for a century."

 

"United States has been a British colony. Still a lot of US residents don't speak English."

 

"How's it possible?"

 

"Read the news."

 

"I think I have it covered." Steve said, hesitatingly handed over the note the mystical man gave him to Stark.

 

Stark looked at the note. "I don't quite recognize Chinese radicals, but I think they should be all right. Let's go"

 

"Change first. Your clothes are too obvious."

 

"These are my subtlest clothes."

 

Steve sighed. He was already regretting letting Stark talked him into joining him.

 

"Well, would you take the cab entire way?"

 

"I have it planned out in public transport route."

 

"All right. I'll trust your capable leadership. You'll be all right?"

 

"Why won't I be?"

 

Steve put on a cap and pressed it low on his head to ensure that it was harder to recognize him and made Stark do the same. As Stark's clothes all shouted money, Steve was forced to lend his T-shirt to him. Fortunately they were of similar height. They both wore a T-shirt and a pair of jeans so that they blended in the crowd better. Steve brought his shield in a large box to hide it. There might be a fight later, and a shield didn't leave as much trace as a gun as the gun regulation rules here in Hong Kong were very strict. They went to the railway station, bought two tickets from ticket vending machines and got into the trains. The trains were full of people, but much cleaner than the subway in New York. There was a TV hung from the top showing programs in a language Steve presumed was Cantonese. A Chinese woman talked over her phone so loudly that all the passengers could hear her side of the dialogue. A man in suit was playing games with his IPad. Everyone had an air of tiredness and tension, but just like their New York counterparts, they were immersed in their own world, except several children throwing a curious glance at them.

 

After landing at the University station, Steve and Stark went to the bus station to take the bus. The buses here were unlike the greyhound Steve sometimes spotted because they had two floors. Very few people were waiting for bus and they got in easily. Steve put the right fare that he counted in the bus station in coins and the driver glanced at him. For a moment Steve wondered if he did something wrong but the driver looked away again and he noticed that other passengers used an electronic card to pay the fare. Don't they know that it could be a tracking device? But everyone for his own, Steve figured. Besides, Steve had to admit that a credit card-like device for every transport was convenient.

 

On the bus, Stark commented, "I don't even take a bus back in New York. It's weird to sit with so many people together in a vehicle."

 

"Shut up, Stark." Steve said, not so strongly. He didn't want to speak in a place that they might be tracked.

 

"All right. All right. I know you're being your anti-social charming self," Stark said, then he closed his eyes.

 

Steve kept alert all the way and had an eye on Stark. There might be a big fight ahead, and he wanted to be ready for it. And brought Stark back.

 

When they got off the bus, Steve saw that the Science & Technology Park wasn't exactly a leisure park. Instead it seemed to be a site with industrial buildings and laboratories, with the glass walls that Steve was still not getting used to. He already checked the security route and led Stark to the place Stark was needed - the back gate of the building. There Stark could show his expertise, Steve thought.

 

Stark raised an eyebrow at the security device installed at the gate. "Well, it was interesting. It was a hybridized version of my tech."

 

"Can you crack it?"

 

"Of course. Give me several minutes."

 

"Be quick," Steve said, and he stood on guard for any security details around..

 

Steve had to admit that Stark's presence was essential when Stark disabled the electronic security system, while he had Stark's back, though there were less guard than he expected. Perhaps they trusted too much on the high-tech things.

 

Even before they entered the lab, they heard the sound of gun shot and screaming. Steve signalled Stark to stay - he would be useless in such situation --- and took out his shield. However, Stark followed him instead. They cautiously proceeded into the lab, and saw that a person in a white coat was shooting people. The people there were screaming, ducking the gun man and tried to run away. Some of them were lying on the ground, moaning. There was blood on their clothes. Steve and Stark took cover. Then Steve charged in a zig-zag pattern to prevent him from being aimed easily and knocked his shield to the person's gun hand. The man screamed and the gun flew out of his hand. Another person quickly took it away and seemed hesitant how to deal with it. When Steve was certain that the gun man was disarmed, he knocked the man down. _What's happened?_ Steve thought.

 

Steve looked around the lab. The light was dim, but Steve still could see that a man with dark skin was strapped to a steel table inside a lab. There was an IV line attached to him. Steve went to check the man's life sign. He was still breathing, with his heart signs steady. He freed the man. Stark was at the computer terminal, probably busy downloading the information from the computer system.

 

"What do you get?" Steve asked.

 

"It's fascinating. Let me share with you later. "

 

Steve knew that he and Stark couldn't stay here any longer. There might be other people who heard the gun shot and they might call the police. There was really no proper way to explain their presence, and it was possible that they would be blamed for it, not to mention the diplomatic incident of when Captain America was found to be involved. He told one of the woman there who seemed fine to call an ambulance. The woman nodded and took out a phone. Then Steve dragged Stark to retreat, taking a different route back to Tsim Sha Tsui. Steve took Stark to walk for the longer way to avoid being tracked.

 

When they were back to the hotel, after Steve making sure both his room and Stark's were safe from intrusion, Steve asked, "What do you make of the situation?"

 

Stark switched on his computer, supposedly carrying out complex security procedures and said, "Let me show you."

 

Steve read the information displayed on the screen and was silent. It seemed too ridiculous, but this was what the reports indicated. Alien DNA were involved in the project to enhance his success. Stark involved himself in biochemical discussion that he seemed to be very enthusiastic, leaving Steve to figure out the implication.

 

The next day Steve checked the news site and found nothing about the lab there. Was it never covered in the news? Was someone involved in the covering up? Steve finally made a decision to go there again alone. Stark needn't to be involved. He was a decent businessman in Hong Kong.

 

Steve took a longer route and arrived at the Park. He got to the lab and noticed that all signs of the last night was eradicated. Then he heard sounds from the outside. He quickly took cover. He desperately hoped there wouldn't be more Hong Kong cops or reporters.

 

He only came out when a number of SHIELD agents rushed in the room. One of them saluted Steve, "We'll be in charge of the situation, sir. General Fury's orders."

 

Steve nodded. He asked, "Can you tell me more about the situation here?"

 

No, sir," The SHIELD agent said apologetically. "General Fury didn't give us the right to disclose any information."

 

Steve returned to the hotel and found Stark in his room. He must have looked different from usual because Stark stopped sipping from his wine and asked, "What's happened?"

 

  
Steve told him about the situation, how SHIELD taking over everything.

 

"Fury will be glad that he will benefit the most without getting his hands dirty." Stark commented. "But I'm not sure how they do it. The local government must have taken really a blind eye to the situation."

 

Steve said nothing. He had nothing to say. Apparently he had been a dupe in the whole operation. He was silent on the flight back to New York.

 

When Steve and Stark were back in New York, Fury conducted a debriefing, where Steve was asked -or more accurately ordered- to attend and said, "Yes sir" a lot.

 

"You did a sloppy job," Fury said.

 

"No excuse, sir."

 

Steve had no idea how SHIELD could get to the Hong Kong territory so openly without fear of arousing the ire of the Chinese government, but he supposed Fury had his ways.

 

Steve saw a tall muscular Black man in army uniform in the headquarter. Then he recognized him as the man strapped on the lab table back in Hong Kong. Steve supposed that he was one of the successful experimental subject of HSL Project, The man looked around and seemed unsure of himself. Therefore Steve took the first step and asked, "I'm Steve Rogers. What should I call you?"

 

"It seems that now I'm called Agent 33. My name is Neo, though."

 

"What do you feel about this place?" Steve asked.

 

"I don't know. I get to US after all, though not in the way I think. I may as well work to provide for my family." Neo said, with a sarcastic grin.

 

"I'm sorry."

 

"Don't be. It can be worse." Then Neo asked, "Are you Captain America? I recognize your uniform now."

 

"Yes, I am."

 

"They said you saved me. Thank you."

 

"You're welcome."

 

Then a SHIELD agent came to them and said to Neo, "The Director wants to see you."

 

"Excuse me. I need to to go."

 

"See you."

 

There wasn't much talk about Neo yet and Steve had listened hard. Fury was cautious about the result, Steve knew. There was too much failure at the brink of near success. He would watch, and what would happen if they really came to the second genetic age?  
  
Steve didn't know.

 

 

Steve continued to train, fought supervillains with his team-mates, forced to smile for the media. The routine lured him into an illusion of normality. He should have known that nothing was so simple.

 

His army superiors' attitude toward him was cold, to put it politely. But it was par for the course. What caught Steve's attention was the rumour spread about the Ultimates and him in the Internet and army network that they were to be considered unreliable. The spread of rumour seemed to be systematic, and when Steve tried to trace back the source, it was linked to a military base. Was it an disgruntled individual, or was it something bigger?

 

It made Steve more paranoid. He still couldn't figure out the source of the smearing campaign in Hong Kong, and now he suspected that had to do with the military. Fury had to know, right? But he wasn't sure.

 

Steve learnt from Jan that SHIELD got a share of the new DNA sample to experiment on, probably out of some bargain and Hank was working on it, as a condition that he could have more freedom. Steve was relieved that Jan and him could talk more normal. The hint of tension still existed between them, but they were regaining their friendship, which he missed.

 

"Do you know abut the research?"

 

"The DNA sample is.. nothing like what Hank has seen. Maybe it would earn him a Nobel if it wasn't classified, he said."

 

"Jan..."

 

"I won't go back to him. Not to you either. Sorry."

 

"I know. I just... I just want you to be all right."

 

"Thank you."

 

 

* * *

 

 

Time passed. There didn't seem to be anything wrong with Neo. The atmosphere became more relaxed. Hank proudly proclaimed that it was a success. Even Fury seemed to accept the result and started to send Leo to more training and missions.

 

Steve was back in the study of the mansion thinking hard about the current situation when Stark walked in and put a hand on him.

 

"What do you think about the super soldier program now?" Stark asked.

 

"It seems to be a great success, with Neo and the others being well. I just don't know..." Steve hesitated in how much to share with Stark.

 

"Don't worry. You're too hard to be replaced."

 

"I'm not worrying about this. I'm a soldier after all, and..." Steve sighed. Why couldn't things be simple? He regretted in over-sharing with Stark.

  
  
Stark patted Steve's hand. "The next age might be genetic, but you're still unique among the others."

 

Stark seemed serious so Steve didn't know how to respond. Then Stark cracked a joke and Steve frowned but secretly relieved that things got back to normal.

 

 

* * *

 

 

Steve was working at the gym when a man walked in. Steve raised his head and noticed that this was Neo.

 

"Can I talk to you?" Neo asked.

 

"Of course," Steve said. "How can I help you?"

 

"Do you think.... Could you help me tell my family that I 'm trying to take them here? I haven't figured out a way....."

 

Steve debated with himself, then he said, "Give me your family's address and names. I'll see what I can do."

 

"Thank you."

 

Neo was a likable individual, and from what Steve knew from the check-up and the mission reports, he did a great job. From the several conversations Steve thought that he could connect to Neo a bit as part of Neo was just like Steve back when he just received super soldier serum, uncertain, eager to please.

 

Steve sometimes met Neo in the gym and they worked out together. There seemed to be a silent and friendly competition between them, as they both had similar physique. Steve quite liked it honestly, because Neo was among the few to hold up with him. After then Neo usually invited him to talk when they were both free.

 

One time Neo said, "Tell me about New York."

 

Steve for once didn't know what to say. Which New York? The New York he was born into and grew up in? The New York he had awaken to? The New York which was so ugly and pretty at the same time that it was hard to distinguish between the two sides?. Steve said finally, "It's... home"

 

"It's not very useful," Neo said.

 

"What do you want to know?"

 

"Eh... Things that I can tell my family. To let them know that I'm all right here. Funny, right, when I can't even mail them openly?"

 

Steve thought of Gail and the war days. "I understand."

 

To distract both of them, he started to tell some tidbits about his childhood, and Neo shared some of his. At this moment they could almost be called friends.

 

Several days later when Steve saw Neo again in the gym, he fund himself asking, "Are you free today? Perhaps I can take you around New York."

 

"Of course I am! Thank you very much. I haven't really been around the city."

 

Steve looked at the uniform they were wearing and asked, "Do you have something not uniforms?"

 

"No, I'm afraid ."

 

"I can lend some to you."

 

"I really appreciate it."

 

Steve and Neo changed and then left for New York. Steve took Neo to the usual tourists spots: Statue of Liberty, Empire Building, and Central Park. Then on a whim he brought Neo to the more lived-in area in New York.

 

At a diner, Neo said, "I haven't been really around a city outside my home country. "

 

"You don't go much even in Hong Kong?"

 

"Don't have money. It's expensive to live in Hong Kong, and we don't have welfare benefit. We mostly dwelt inside Chung King Mansion. At least now I could send money to my family. I'm the bread earner, you know."

 

"How many children do you have?"

 

"Two."

 

Steve thought of the building and was silent. He thought of his own childhood and compared it to that of Neo's family. At least he could go out and played with other kids.

 

At the end of the time, Steve was called off to Central Park to face another supervillain and he told Neo, "I need to go."

 

"Good Bye," Neo said.

 

With the increased time with Neo, Steve found that Neo was more likable.

 

On the other hand, Hank seemed to be more...... unstable, which was something for Hank.

 

Steve didn't see Hank very often, but he kept an eye on him anyway. From the gossip network and the way Jan looked more tired every time he saw her, he knew that Hank became more paranoid and secretive, keeping every information to himself and not even to share with Jan. He was angry all the day too. Shouting, yelling, accusing everyone of being jealous of his talent a wanting to steal his effort.

 

At the general meeting, Hank looked more frantic than usual. His accused everyone from looking down on him to trying to get rid of him, and paid no attention to what others said. His face was full of anger. At the middle of the meeting he stood up, snatching the paper before him.

 

"Don't talk to me any more," Hank said with his voice cold as ice. "I'm fed up with you all."

 

Everyone looked at Jan. She shrugged. "I think it's proof that Hank should be left on his own."

 

Steve hoped that it meant Jan had gotten over Hank. Although Steve and Jan were not lovers now, Steve still wished the best for her.

 

Maybe you thought too much of yourself, Steve thought. He felt regretful that he couldn't help Jan.

 

 

* * *

 

 

The general summoned him to his office.

 

"There's a mission for you," The General said, handing him a file.

 

"Yes, sir."

 

According to the briefing this was a run-of-the-mill training field mission. It would be good to take away some frustration with action. Steve put on his gear and met his team. They looked young and proud, as per for the course. It should have been an easy mission,

 

They got in a plane and flew to the area. According to the plan, they would land in a safe area, proceeded cautiously and retrieved the damaged military plane wreckage. Then they could return home.

 

However, things started to go wrong right at the beginning. Their landing was delayed because the pilot couldn't find a suitable place to land though such place was indicated on the map. When they finally landed, their GPS devices were broken, despite Steve's check up before the mission and the damage seemed to be man-made. Therefore they were forced to rely on the map. But the details were wrong. Places that should appear according to the map didn't exist. The mission route planned on the map needed to be forsaken, Steve decided. But when he informed the team, there was vigorous voice of opposition, which Steve finally managed to calm down. The team were cocky rookies that didn't want to cooperate with each other. There were argument and bickering, not of the friendly nature. They were not obedient to Steve's orders either, though they dared not disobey him in the open. Steve could feel the resentment of the team toward him and each other. Steve still managed to reach the target despite this, but when he reached what he should go, they were ambushed! Gun shot were everywhere, and he noticed that his team mates were suspiciously absent. He rolled away to take cover behind a stone and returned fire. During the gun fire he was hurt on his leg and his left leg hurt like burning, but he resisted the pain until the enemies were gone. He had to get back to New York, he knew. Survival was the top target.

 

After he was sure the enemies retreated, he did makeshift first-aid on his leg and started to make plans to return. His team mates were still nowhere in sight.

 

Steve didn't remember much about how he returned to New York, honestly. There was too much pain involved, even for him. One thing he had in mind was the ambush that shouldn't happen. Some people knew about their plan in advance, and the weird response of the soldier when Steve said they should modify the route a bit. He didn't want to think more, because the possibility was too horrible. But what if he was set up by the superiors? It meant...

 

  
When he finally returned to the Mansion, he only collapsed when he saw a familiar face and he knew that he was safe back at home again. Then his view was filled with darkness.

 

 

* * *

 

 

When Steve woke up again, he wasn't quite sure where he was, except that he heard the beeping sound of equipments and a strong smell of disinfectant. He felt weak. Was he captured? What did the people want to do to him? Anyway he should escape. After assessing the situation, he concentrated on his recent memory to find clues on where he should be. A nurse opened the door and did checkup. She spoke in English with a New York accent, but it still could be a fake, good fake. Then he saw Jan and Stark coming in, looking worried, and relieved. But this awareness took away too much of his energy and he was asleep again.

 

 

* * *

 

 

The female doctor came and went and told Steve that he was lucky that he could keep the leg. It was infected when he was sent to the hospital, she said. The doctor asked if he would like to be quoted in a medical journal article and Steve politely refused. She also said that he was a medical challenge as he required anesthetics enough to subdue an elephant. This Steve knew. His physique required tailor-made treatment and he was glad that he only collapsed when he was back to home base.

 

Steve was on his sick bed, reading when he heard a knock on the door. Before he responding, the door was opened and Stark let himself in.

 

"Why are you here?" Steve asked, putting down the book..

 

"To visit our brave captain of course," Stark took up the book looked at the cover of the book Steve was reading, and said . "Maltese Falcon, doesn't seem to be your taste."

 

"Jan brought it me." Steve didn't know what he had to sound defensive. But honestly he preferred Raymond Chandler to Dashiell Hammett. He read it because he had nothing to do. Reading Dashiell Hammett reminded him of how cold-hearted Sam Spade was.

 

"Come. I know of better places for you to stay instead of this bed. You're getting bored, right?"

 

"So?"

 

"I arranged for you to be put under the best medical care money can buy, back at the Mansion. It would be better than staring at the white walls."

 

Steve thought of refusing just for its sake, but he had to admit that he got bored with the hospital. He got off the bed and went with Stark. Stark loudly complained that there was a sufficient lack of alcohol in hospitals. Steve glared at him but it didn't seem to work on Stark.

 

 

* * *

 

 

The month for recovery was too long to Steve's taste. It reminded him of the time before the super soldier serum, being barely a tolerated ghost in the body, helpless. He didn't like that his body betrayed him, but he swallowed it and focused on healing. He did what the doctor instructed and went on physical therapy. He would go back to the field as soon as possible. Meanwhile, he was still doubtful about the mission. It seemed too much like a set up, but..... why?

 

Steve started to get the information from his few contacts in the military, but he was faced with silence. His inquiry whether there was a follow-up investigation was faced with a stone wall. Finally he ran out of legitimate ways for information and there was only one way to go. As he was back in the Mansion with his computer, , --He accessed the military computer network, figured out its backdoor, and hacked into the Pentagon computer system, and he found out the truth.

 

The army wanted him dead.

 

He was useless now, obsolete.

 

Steve looked at the screen for very long time. He automatically cut off the access and finished the standard operating procedures. Then he stared at the wall for a very long time.

 

He should be angry? sad? or......

 

Steve didn't know how he should feel.

 

He was silent for very long time.

 

 

* * *

 

 

Stark surprisingly was a frequent visitor.

 

"Why are you sulking? What are you thinking?" he asked one day, when Steve was definitely not sulking. He was just thinking about things.

 

"I'm thinking about leaving the team."

 

"Why?" Stark looked weirdly concerned.

 

Steve didn't know why, but looking at Stark, suddenly he found the impulse to be frank with him. "With the new generation of super soldiers, I don't know... I don't know whether I have a place any more."

 

"Come with me. You need a break anyway. Why not now?"

 

Steve hesitated for awhile, and surprised himself by saying , "Yes."

 

Steve had thought that it would be weird, to surrender to Stark's will, to let him take him to a place of unknown, but in some way he was comforted by hat too. Despite everything Stark had that irritated him, he trusted and respected Stark. Besides, it wasn't so different to what he did, to have a mission going through, to follow orders into the battleground. And he probably wouldn't go through these any more. Enough. Just focus. Focus on everything. Focus on the trick in Stark's sleeves.

 

Steve half expected that Stark would bring him to some fancy restaurants, but Stark surprised him by bringing him to a diner in a hidden corner of the city. Steve looked at it, looked at the costumers and he thought he was brought back to the 1930's.

 

"The burgers here are good. You should try them." Stark said.

 

 

 

Steve bit into the burger. The crispy bread, the juicy meat, the fresh lettuce. Steve just let his mind shut down and focused on the taste, the favour, the texture. It was good, and Steve wondered how Stark got wind of this. He couldn't imagine Stark as a burger guy. He asked Stark the question. Stark only smiled and then bit further into his burger.

 

Steve settled into a routine with Stark. He did what was required for the rehabilitation. He seriously wondered whether Stark really worked at his company because he seems to always have time for him, between being Iron Man and everything. Steve watched a lot of day time TV, not so patiently waiting for the injury to heal , suffering through all tests. He accessed the overhead-in-New-York.com and heard everything kinds of weird things people nowadays says, like some kind of organs abductors, poisonous babes, and everything.

 

He still wondered about what he discovered at the lab. He accessed the English-speaking newspapers in Hong Kong and saw that there was no reports of the lab there. Apparently those in charge covered up their track very well. The investigation into Stark's attempted murder had progress, but they didn't know who the mastermind was. Steve suspected it would never be found.

 

"They are asking you and me to be witness in Hong Kong. Why don't we go there again?"

 

"You seem to have a lot of free time."

 

"I thought you'll be glad that I am trying to be a law-abiding good citizen. It's also a chance for we to finish the matter. Everything starts here."

 

"...All right."

 

 

* * *

 

 

  
Steve and Stark landed in Hong Kong airport. It still looked as impressive as last time, but the security holes were still there. With the previous experience here, Steve was on his high alert to make sure no one wanted to gun either of them down. Fortunately nothing happened.

 

Stark had the driver drove Steve and him to the hotel. The scenery was similar and they arrived at the same hotel as the last time. Steve raised an eyebrow at Stark and Stark said, "I intend the best for us, you know." Then after they checked in and settled down, they went to the police regional headquarter as appointed. This was a very long car journey from the hotel to there so Steve focused on looking at the scenery. It was a drastic change from the varied shops with branded names in Tsim Sha Tsui to plain and old residential buildings here. To Steve's surprise, Stark managed to have a rapport with the driver in Cantonese.When they got off the car Steve thanked the driver. The driver seemed surprised.

 

The headquarter consisted of two buildings of sixteenth floors and eighth with a metal curved roof respectively. These two buildings had the same glass walls that Steve started to associate with Hong Kong buildings.

 

The police officer seemed to be surprised at their presence but she led them each to an interview room separately. Officer Chan came and explained to Steve what he was expected to do. She seemed more polite and said the case was going to the High Court and the testimony of Steve and Stark were important. Steve nodded and promised full cooperation. It was one of the reasons he was in Hong Kong anyway. .

 

When Steve and Tony left the police stations, a crowd of reporters surrounded them. Stark nudged Steve and said, "The mass media still love you." Steve glared at him. The reporters wanted to ask questions to both of them but fortunately for Steve Stark shielded him from answering the sharper questions. Stark charm seemed to work here to a lesser degree as the reporter crowd dispersed much later than those back in New York. But Steve and Stark could leave at last anyway. This was the most important.

 

Officer Chan told them that the time the case was scheduled at the Magistrate's court and so Steve had certain free days. He decided to use them to further his mission and visited Neo's family. But as usual, Stark threw a screw to wreck his plan by suggesting to take him sightseeing.

 

"I..." Steve wanted to refuse.

 

"Come on, there's no need to be hurry. Besides there's a lot of Hong Kong you hadn't seen yet. You agreed to protect me, don't you? Won't it be against your principle if your noble team mate get hurt by an unknown assailant when you're wandering around?"

 

"I won't listen to you every time. I'm just dong it for the team."

 

"Deal."

 

Steve then asked, "Where're we going?"

 

"It'll wouldn't be a surprise if you knew it beforehand."

 

"I prefer plan ahead of time to assess the situation."

 

Stark sighed. "All right. I'll give you a list, satisfied?" He took out his tablet and typed things. Steve looked over them and found that they were not English. Rather they're Romanticized form of possibly Chinese words.

 

"Well, you asked."

 

Steve debated whether to drag Stark into taking public transport to teach him a lesson but he gave up the idea. While Ferrari wasn't the most modest transport, it could pose security risk to be trapped in a crowded vehicle. The last time he did it to avoid tracking. This time he had other concern.

 

Stark shone when he stepped into his Ferrari and waved Steve over into the car. He kept talking while Steve focused on the rear window to make sure no suspicious cars were following them.

 

"Do you have a place you want to go first?"

 

Steve was quiet. "I don't think you gave me much choice when I don't even know where I'm going."

 

"Thanks for your trust."

 

Stark drove on a road wit busy traffic. Steve couldn't help but watched out the scenery and mesmerized by the vibrant energy of the futuristic city, not unlike New York. But here the atmosphere was different. The people were different. The language was different. Even the air was different. In fact, in some ways it was better to appreciate this place because in New York, he would be confused by his own New York superimposing on the current New York.

 

Stark then asked, "Are you claustrophobic?"

 

Steve answered, "No, why do you ask?"

 

Steve realized it when they passed into a long undersea tunnel with dimmer light. The traffic was sparser here and there seemed to be no end to it. Steve wondered what would happen if the tunnel couldn't stand the weight of the sea water above. He also worried if an accident happened here to block either end of the tunnel.

 

Finally they left the tunnel and Steve was relaxed, though he wouldn't let Stark know. The scenery changed to more tall buildings and Stark parked his car at a car park.

 

"Where're we?"

 

"Central."

 

"It didn't sound like a place name."

 

"It did its job to describe the place. It 's the central area of Hong Kong."

 

Stark then led him to a park nearby. Steve walked around the park and stopped. There was a memorial dedicated to soldiers sacrificed in the battle of Hong Kong. Steve put a hand on it. He asked, "Do you know about it?"

 

"No, but I can search the Internet."

 

Steve couldn't tell what he was exactly feeling. Here were the soldiers who fought in the same war, never able to return home again, names forgotten. At least he was back to his home city, to Bucky and Gail.

 

Steve gently tugged his sleeves. "Do you want to stay here longer?"

 

"It's all right. We can go now," Steve said. He threw a glance at it the last time, trying to remember it in his mind.

 

Stark seemed to feel Steve's sombre mood and refrained from his chattering when he took him across the streets. Steve saw a classical building with a tomb. There was a statue of a blindfolded woman holding a pair of scales.

 

"Have you been to the Peak?" Stark asked.

 

"I did."

 

"Then did you try the dim sum here?"

 

"No. What's the difference from that in China Town back in New York?"

 

Stark sighed and threw a piteous glance at him. Then he took the car and got him to a traditional Chinese building.

 

When Steve got into it, the place was decorated with art decor of his time: ceiling fans, stained glass windows and wooden alcoves, mixed with traditional Chinese furniture. Stark let him to a table and waved a waiter to order food and tea. Soon there were nine plates of food arrived with a tea pot.

 

With the experience of the Chinese tea the previous time, Steve poured a cup of it and drunk. The tea tasted different from the last time but was still good. He looked at the food. There was a plate of Chinese buns as big as his fist, a plate of shrimp dumplings, a plate of diced pork, a plate of toast with some kind of fresh paste above it, a bowl of white thing, a plate of ham and meat, a bowl of brown soup with some slices, a bamboo container of food resembling xiu mai and a pie.

 

Steve saw that Stark used his pair of chopsticks well to pick up food. When he was deciding what to do, Stark gave him a rubber band and tie it around Steve's pairs. Steve found that he could used it now and thanked Stark.

 

Steve tried the xiu mai look-alike first. He could taste the shrimps, which were sweet and fresh. There was a layer of chicken underneath it and tasted good so Steve picked and ate another one.

 

Stark put a shrimp dumpling in Steve's bowl and said, "Try it. You can know the quality of dim sum of a Chinese restaurant from its shrimp dumplings."

 

Steve put one into his mouth as told. It was much better than what he tried last time. Steve started to understand why Stark was so picky with dim sums. He had spoilt his palate with food like these.

 

Then Steve ate the diced pork. The meat was tender and fresh, though it was strange that it was attached to bone. Steve finished the meat and put the bone on the rim of the plate holding his bowl, imitating how Stark did with the bone.

 

The toast with shrimp paste looked more familiar to him, and he put a piece into his mouth. The toast was crispy and the shrimp was fresh and tasty. He said to Stark, "It didn't look like the usual dim sum."

 

Stark smiled. "That's why I bring you here, to broaden your horizons. It's one of the specialties here and hard to find elsewhere."

 

He ate the other food and they were all very delicious. Steve thought about a time when China was only a place in mouth-to-ear and then a distant battleground to him. Now he was eating delicious dim sum with a man that came from literally the other world in an Eastern restaurant, in a futuristic yet traditional city. Who would have predicted it when he volunteered himself to the war effort?

 

Finally Steve tried the soup and it was sweet. Steve couldn't quite recognize what was inside the soup but he finished it anyway. Then he asked, "What soup 's this?"

 

Stark waited for a moment, then said ,"Apricot and entrails soup"

 

Entrails? Steve had eaten entrails --- who didn't back in the time? --- but making soup? It sounded really weird. "Chinese have weird food."

  
"Sometimes you need to try new things. It may be beyond your previous thinking, but it doesn't mean that it's good," Stark said.

 

When they left the restaurant, Steve wondered where Stark would take him to next. He didn't expect that Stark drove him to an open market. There Steve experienced a sensory overload. The yelling of the stall owners and the loud conversation between them and their costumers filled his ears. The smell of raw meat, vegetables and fruit attacked him. The ground was wet. It looked nothing like a place Stark should be in, but Stark led him across the market and rubbing shoulders with the costumers here. Then they arrived at a small restaurant. Stark led him inside and showed him to the chef, who spoke English with a French accent. Stark said to the chef, "Bring us today's specialty please, Henry."

 

"Sure," the chef said and returned to the kitchen. Steve and Stark picked a table. Stark said, "Don't be fooled by its appearance. It's one of the best French restaurant in Hong Kong."

 

"How do you know about it?"

 

"I have my ways."

 

When the food arrived, Steve and Stark started to eat it. Steve wasn't a judge of food, so he could only say that the food was good. Stark started a conversation with Steve and soon he found that he was debating which Hollywood star was the coolest. (Errol Flynn, there was no doubt, Steve argued.) books and the relationship between Fury's mood and planetary cycle. There was something to say for Stark. He was annoying, but never boring.

 

When they finished the meal, Stark brought him back to his car and took him for a ride. In this part of Hong Kong there were less buildings covered with glass but antique buildings where people hung their bed cloth outside the windows. Stark parked and brought him to walk between the alleys. A middle-aged half naked man squatted to have his lunch. An old woman walked by, wearing an apron. The alleys were wet, narrow and dark. Stark led him into one of the shop, selling Chinese traditional wood furniture. Steve put a hand on it to feel the texture of the wood. In another shop furniture and wares made of vines were sold. There was a glass shop with a colourful Buddha statue on the front. There was a mixture of smell along the street, but when Steve approached each of them, he could distinguish them almost entirely by smell. Oily favour from the shop that had roasted ducks handing on the font, the sweet smell of herbs, the medicine-like favour of sandalwood, wine, books, soap. It was a feast of smell. Steve surprised himself that he enjoyed seeing different kinds of old shops on the same street. When Stark finally took him back, Steve almost wanted to prolong the trip. But he only said, "Thank you."

 

"You're welcome," Stark smiled.

 

 

* * *

 

 

After parting with Stark, Steve returned to the Chung King Mansion, this time looking for anyone possibly with a smart phone or a small camera. He had secretly sent letters and money to Neo's family as per Neo's wish, but he needed to confirm with his eyes that the family was well care for. Following the return address, Steve arrived at a narrow corridor packed with motels. The seedy atmosphere of the building was a sharp contrast to the rest of Tsim Sha Tsui. He knocked the door and waited for it to be opened. The lobby inside was small and there didn't seemed to be any staff. Then he asked for Neo's family.

 

The man thought for awhile, and then led him to a room. Steve knocked the door and waited for it to be open. There was a Black woman and two children, and they were just as Neo described, but to be sure, he asked their names to confirm their identities.

 

The woman asked, "Who're you?"

 

Steve said, "I'm a friend of him and sent by your husband Neo, Mrs Omotoso?"

 

"It's me, and..." Mrs Omotoso said.

 

Steve gave her a letter from Neo. After Mrs Omotoso read the letter, she said, "I recognize my husband's hand writing, and I recognize your face from the last letter he sent you. Please come in"

 

When Steve entered the room, he saw that this was very small and he himself filled up half the room. There was a bed and a table, and nothing more. Steve suggested, "I'll leave soon and not bother you too much."

 

"We're actually having dinner here," Mrs. Omotoso said. "You can stay here and eat with us. By the way, can you tel me more about my husband's current situation?"

 

Steve told him, trying to pick out the safer and better part of Neo's job. Mrs. Omotoso listened and asked a lot of questions. The last one was the hardest. "When can we see him?"

 

"He's working toward it," Steve said. It wasn't exactly a lie.

 

Mrs. Omotoso smiled. Then she took a bowl of food to Steve.

 

Steve ate it and found that it was spiced yams. The two children looked at him with curiosity and the bigger one asked, "Can you tell me about America?"

 

Mrs. Omotoso said, "Let our guest have his meal first. Remember your manners."

 

Steve said, "It's all right," and tried to tell them about United States. It was harder than he thought when he was choosing the right detail to tell them. He chose to omit the supervillains and aliens attack, instead telling them about baseball and museums.

 

When Steve finished the meal and said goodbye to Mrs Omotoso, she said, "Please take care of my husband."

 

"I will" He said.

 

 

* * *

 

 

Steve still wondered about the HSL Project. It was .... he should a say a bit suspicious that the science people could have cranked up a shining record sheet in such a short period of time. There were miracles, but Steve doubted it was connected to this. Something was wrong and he might as well use the chance to find out the truth.

 

Steve 's first lead, he thought, would be to find out the mysterious man. Who was he? What did he know about the Project? Was he a friend or a foe?

 

He did start with the personals involved in HSL Project. The army made an attempt to make the list of personals and scientists involved top secret, but the Pentagon computer system security yielded to him when he hacked past the security and disclosed everything it knew about the project. (Sometimes Steve hoped that people could be so easy to deal with like computers). Yes, most of them were now in United States. No, they were not all active personals. No, they don't perform well. The scientist he recalled for shooting the others committed suicide. Their psychological evaluations showed that their psychological situation deteriorated rapidly in the period of their employment. One record intrigued Steve. The name was Emily Chan, and she was now in a local mental hospital. The reason Steve was intrigued was that she bore resemblance with the man he found. He did a detailed background search on Emily and found that the mystery man was her brother, David Chan, who was employed as a security guard there. He soon disappeared from the office and was listed as MIA.

 

Further search didn't reveal where David Chan was. There was no immigration record of David to be in United States, but it didn't mean much. The most probable place he might get him is from his sister. He made several phone call and for more information. After he knew about where she was in, he went to the hospital. He had already found photoes of Chan from the security files and remembered them.

 

Steve got into the hospital, sneaked past the hospital personals and waited near Emily Chan's ward. Then a man in white coat walked by. Something about him seemed suspicious. Steve took a deeper look at him and found that it matched the photo of David Chan. Steve blocked his way, saying, "David Chan?" The man stalled and then Steve knew he got the right man. Steve overcame him and pulled him aside.

 

"Release me!" Chan struggled and shouted.

 

  
"Tell me your purpose of approaching me. Who do you work for?" Steve said.

 

"I can't win, after all," the man spoke with a soft voice, as if speaking to himself. "How do you find me?"

 

"SHIELD," Steve lied.

 

The man nodded, but he didn't look so surprised. "I should do a better job hiding my trace. But it's meaningless now."

 

"Why?"

 

"I think.... I was desperate. I wanted to see if you can help," Chan had a sarcastic grin, "I took a bet, and I lost."

 

"I don't have much patience," Steve warned.

 

"All right. You may know or not, but one of the scientists involved? She 's important to me."

 

"She's your sister."

 

"You do a great job. My sister is a genius but in Hong Kong, scientists don't get what they deserve. Anyway we were employed by the former government as agents, and well, the British government hired us to prevent the Handover of Hong Kong to China. But it failed. . We were disposed. Then the US Army gave us an offer we couldn't resist."

 

"The HSL Project."

 

"Yeah. My sister loved the challenge and she didn't quite know what this involved. She got in and I followed her. We were too involved before we actually knew what we were involved in. The deaths, alarming. "

 

"But you continue."

 

"We're just pawns. Anyway, then it's the so called breakthrough. Never see the lab stuff so ecstatic. First successful lab subject."

 

"Neo."

 

"I don't want to remember their names. It should be a good thing. But then things get stranger."

 

"How?"

 

"The people get more angry, more paranoid. At first I thought it was because they had a real success now, but ...... Weird thing kept happening. It was unnatural."

 

"So you took action."

 

  
"I know my sister gets affected. She doesn't listen to me even when I beg her. I won't leave without her. I need help stopping it. When Stark and you came and the brass got really nervous. I thought that you might be the long shot I needed. But..."

 

"How's your sister?"

 

"She has a breakdown, or so they say. They don't let me see her."

 

"I am sorry." Then a thought occurred to Steve, "And you're here trying to break into it?""

 

"I'll admit nothing," Chan said, "If you are sorry, find out the truth for us and stop it."

 

"I promise."

 

 

* * *

 

 

It was night when Steve was returning to the hotel, and he went up to Stark's room. Opening the door, Stark was sitting on a chair, drink from his wine, and looking at a white envelope. When he noticed Steve, he didn't seem happy.

 

Steve asked, "What's the matter with the letter?"

 

"Nothing."

 

"There's never nothing with you."

 

"Should I applaud you for your amazing character assessment?"

 

"Tell me, Stark."

 

"Well, when I opened the door, I saw that there was a white envelope on the room floor." Someone intruded in the room, Steve immediately realized.

 

"Is anything else lost?"

 

"I checked. There's nothing missing."

 

"Don't speak first," Steve said. He switched on the TV ad checked the room to make sure that there were no bugs.

 

"Did you open the envelope?"

 

"Not yet, but I know certain trick with envelopes. So here's the message."

 

The letter wrote: "Return to US, or otherwise!" It was formed by sticking alphabets cut from magazines and newspapers on it.

 

"It's a threat. Someone or some people really don't like us here. Possibly it's connected to the case."

 

"Possibly."

 

"Will you tell the local force here?"

 

"What? To have my moves restrained by bodyguards? It'll cramp my style."

 

"From now on I'll stick to you until we find the person threatening you."

 

"What a joy to me, a boy scout escort."

 

"It's for your sake."

 

"All right. I really appreciate how much you care about your team mate."

 

Stark seemed annoyed about the incident, rather than worried, but considering what they went through together, Steve supposed that Stark was desensitized to it. Honestly, a life threat seemed to be a distant thing. But Stark was just an ordinary man without armor, and he should be more serious with his life.

 

Steve investigated where the letter came from and soon found out that it was left by the cleaning staff. When confronted, she said that a man gave it to her and said that it was a friendly message, so she put it in. Steve had her describe the person but she could only give a vague impression. It was better than none.

 

Steve remember the name Snake Head Lee, the boss of the gun man and suspected that he was involved. However, Steve had no local contact here to get the information about Triads in Hong Kong. The only possible information source was probably Officer Chan. He might ask for a favour to contact the SHIELD agents in Hong Kong, but he soon dismissed the idea. If he didn't want the local force involved, the worst candidate would be involving SHIELD.

 

Steve conducted an Internet search about the name, but without the Chinese radical for the name, all his result turned out to be about a kind of fish. Clearly his possible move was to wait for the the enemy to take further action.

 

On the following day Steve stood as bodyguard for Stark and followed him to work and leisure. Stark complained a lot , but he was more co-operative than Steve expected. Steve read up Stark's books in his office, followed him to meeting with other businessmen, and was dragged, according to Stark, leisure. The forced remaining in Stark's company was surprisingly less annoying than Steve expected. There seemed to be no further actions from the enemy side.

 

Then at night Stark dragged Steve to cross the sea to a place called Lan Kwai Fong. Stark wasted himself in the bars and finally collapsed on Steve's shoulder. Steve dragged him out and remembered what was so annoying about Stark.

 

Then Steve found himself surrounded by several thugs. They were big, though not as big as him and held an iron tube in their hands. They spoke in probably Cantonese, so Steve couldn't understand the words, but there was no ways that Steve would mistake the threat in their voices. He'd better got rid of them as soon as possible.

 

He gently let go of Stark and let him leaned to the wall of a bar, then he ducked when a man tried to hit him with the tube. He caught the man's wrist and pulled him over his back. It was unwise to be surrounded so he took the weapon and parried the other man's tube. He kicked the man from down under and the man screamed. Then the other two men ganged up on him but he dodged and brought them down. Then he heard a shout from Stark and saw that he was struggling with a man. He quickly went to his rescue and saved him.

 

"My hero," Stark slurred.

 

Then Steve heard the sound of police sirens.

 

The officer this time had even less smile than Officer Chan and she seemed to think Steve had somehow over defended himself. Hearing that Stark was still leaning on the chair, but he struggled to take out a phone and made a call. Soon a lawyer came and spoke for Steve.

 

When the interview finally ended, Stark commented, "We'll be on the news again."

 

Steve sighed.

 

Just as what Stark predicted, the hotel was once again surrounded by reporters so Steve was determined not to go down. A soldier knew when to take a tactical maneuver. He had breakfast with Stark in his room and Stark helpfully made him read the local English newspaper.

 

Officer Chan went to see them. "You seemed to be causing much trouble here."

 

"No. The troubles come to us," Stark said.

 

 

"Whatever. We found out that the thugs were sent by Snakehead Lee's gang. Apparently he wanted to silence you two, so the police would provide protection to you two to prevent further incident."

 

 

Steve asked, "Where's Snakehead Lee?"

 

 

"We hold him in custody using the his men's testimony. The witnesses're now under protection, and you'll too."

 

 

"But I have Captain America here," Stark said.

 

 

"Well, the more the merrier."

 

Steve sensed that Stark was going to say something inappropriate so he interrupted and said, "Thanks for the offer. We'll accept it."

 

 

"All right."

 

 

Steve spent the following two days with two of Hong Kong's finest. They were young and stiff-lipped, but alert and professional. Over all he was fine with them, but it did make sneaking off from them troublesome.

 

 

The court finally took care of the case and Steve had to face questioning from the prosecutor and the lawyer from the defense. He needed to swallow some response when the lawyer hinting of implicating the Ultimates and him. Finally the judge decided that the evidence was enough to process the case to the High Court and relieve the participants. Steve was relieved.

 

 

When Steve and Stark left the court, Officer Chan escorted them and commented, "I hope the next time well see each other in different situation."

 

 

"I hope so too," Steve said.

 

 

 

* * *

 

 

 

When Steve returned to New York, everything seemed to be back to normal. Thinking back, Steve should have taken that as a warning sign.

 

 

It started with small things. Jan asked, "Do you see the news of vampric attack in the tabloids?"

 

 

Steve looked at the newspaper in Jan's hand. "It appeared on the same page with alien abduction and a three-headed dog."

 

 

"Well, at least the alien abduction is true."

 

 

"There were rumours, of people who were normal one day, then they bared his teeth to bite his family,” Clint said. "Must be reading too many vampire stories."

 

 

"Well, everything's possible." Wanda said.

 

 

It was never mentioned again when they were called off to fight another supervillain robbing a bank. Steve hit the supervillain particularly hard and was relieved that things seemed to become normal once he was back in New York.

 

 

He was wrong.

 

 

 

* * *

 

 

 

Fury frowned when he summoned Steve. He said, "Neo's MIA. The agents we sent to retrieve him didn't get back. Find him, before he becomes an incident."

 

 

Steve set out to investigate. Neo seemed to behave normally before his disappearance. There were no signs of suspicious behaviour. He just disappeared. His teammates on the same mission disappeared with him. As it seemed unlikely the whole team planned it together, Steve suspected they were already dead. In fact, Neo would be expected to be dead too if the agents that traced him reported of witnessing Neo before their disappearance.

 

Steve went to the SHIELD headquarter to ask Fury, "Neo might escape to Hong Kong. Should I return there, considering that I've been to Hong Kong and I may be able to help, sir?"

 

 

"No, you're of too high profile. Remember the media circus when you were there? It nearly leads to international incidents."

 

 

Steve made a long-distance call to Hg Kong police force trying to give a hint about a rogue super soldier at large and offered help, but he was rejected coldly. "No, thanks. We can deal with our criminals." .

 

 

 

* * *

 

 

Neo was soon forgotten when more and more SHIELD agents went either MIA or dead. On the previous day a team was carrying out their mission and checking in as usual. Then the other day it was gone. Not a sign from them. When the follow-up team went to the last spot they checked in, they only discovered the bodies of the previous team drained of blood. One of the SHIELD agents was working as usual and laughed with his colleague, then the next day he returned to the base with his gun on, hunting his former colleague and killed them one by one. He was only captured when he was sucking blood from one of his former colleague's body. He was killed at once. All the check up and his colleague's testimony indicated nothing out of normal. They were normal at first, and then they just went berserk, running around the base killing their colleagues. Another scientist went to the lab, opening the unlocked door and wondered about the unlit light. He switched it on ---- screamed, and was forever silenced. His neck was broken when he was found again, the culprit tearing the flesh off his neck. One of them bit off pieces of flesh from his colleagues before being gunned down. The remaining SHIELD agents were told to be on the highest alert. The SHIELD agents looked at their colleagues' face and wondered ---- would the partner turn into a killing machine? Moreover, would they become one of them? Their hands shook from killing the former colleagues, because they knew that it could be them the next time. It also led to tragedy. One of the SHIELD agents was just gunned down just because of no reasons other than misguided fear.

 

It was only after days Jean confirmed that this was a plaque outbreak. In a SHIELD meeting where the Ultimates also participated, She showed them a stack of reports and explained to them in simple terms. Jan discovered the same pathological change in the central nervous system, adrenal gland and blood vessels, and theorized that an unknown pathogen infected the agents, making them lose their sanity and attacked their colleagues.

 

"It's a biological attack then." Steve said.

 

"Yes. A very specifically designed biological attack."

 

 

"Can you neutralize the threat?"

 

 

"Within the days I'm isolating the pathogen, but I still have a long way to talk about destroying it."

 

Fury ordered a quarantine of the SHIELD headquarters, but it was already too late. Now it was not limited to SHIELD. The outbreak spread to other parts of New York.

 

Steve felt that it was his responsibility. He wondered if the early signs were not ignored, the crucial reports go unheeded, SHIELD wasn't so secretive, New York might be spared. Worse, the only remaining force equipped itself with tools perfect for the last war they fought and populations ignored the extent of threat until it is staring them in the face —"This's Katrina again," Steve heard a person said.

 

One morning, a scientist returned to her lab late. she was in a hurry because she was frightened that the boss would discover it. She opened the door--- and screamed. All her colleagues were mutilated, blood spattering everywhere. She reached for the nearest intact body--- and was bitten. She never came out alive again. . A seasoned police officer arrived at the scene and she broke down. Later she was quoted as saying that It was the most hellish thing she had ever seen in her life. Mistrust and suspicion was spreading in the city. Everyone was a suspect to turn into a monster. A crowd of mob chased after a man with a bandaged head and hit him to death. When interrogated, they said , "He's bitten! Zombie for sure!" while the victim proved to be uninfected after all. There were a lot of killing and the victims were later found to be totally normal. People panicked. The running news had an eighty-year-old woman beaten to death by her neighbours because "her eyes looked wrong", quoted by the police speakperson. A supermarket armed its staff with guns to avoid being robbed. Gang of children threw rock at the passersby. A news reporter was killed by a panicked citizen, becoming the first to die in the line of duty in the outbreak

 

The pharmaceutical companies umped at the chance to produce mass-production of vaccines. There was one came out and a near riot happened to get a dose of it. However, it was soon discovered to be a fraud when those injected were changed into vampric zombies too. There would be a large-class law suit if the court were not closed.

 

There were so many deaths that it became a common occurrence.

 

The news reporter reported with shaking lips," The city is overthrown by humanoids who bite and kill people. We may as well say that it's a coming apocalypse."

 

They called them vampric zombies. Unlike those depicted in the films, these zombies seemed to be intelligent, hunted in pack and capable of planning. They attacked people mainly by biting on the victims, but they could resort to weapons as well, evident by the zombies in ripped police uniforms holding their guns and bat in hands. It made them more dangerous.

 

New York was crazy. A supermarket was transformed into a make-shift butcher shop when the vampire zombies broke into it. A vampric zombie locked its teeth into a costumer's neck and tore his head off. The victim's eyes were wide open --- It should be a usual shopping day. How would it happen? People screamed and ran, as they became prey to the predators. Mothers dropped their children on the ground. A man in suit pushed a woman away to another zombie to avoid being bitten. People ran and screamed, and the vampric zombies just picked and chose the victims, like wolves to unguarded sheep.

 

Iron Man blasted at the zombies from the above. The zombies on the front went down and the later stepped on them and proceeded. Steve threw his shield to break one of the zombie's necks. It's head fell off, yet his mouth was still opening and closing, trying to bite into something. Wanda did her hex with Pietro at her back. The pumpkin head on one of the zombie's neck, Steve suspected, was her handiwork. Jan coordinated all of them on the battleground. This was a hard war, as the gunshots were ineffective, because the zombies seemed not to know pain and could proceed despite limbs pulling off. However, melee weapons would put the users in too much danger. Also people were worried of being in touch with the zombie flesh. The SHIELD was down. The only line of defense was mainly the Ultimates and some remaining law enforcement officers. The war was hard, but they had to win.

 

There was no other way for the things to go.

 

They had to win.

 

The situation wasn't optimistic, because the casualty number kept rising. A radio show ran their last course when the zombies overcame the doors of the radio station and attacked the host, his scream could be heard through the broadcast, and then silence, complete silence. The hospitals refused to accept patients, worrying that the ill and hurt would become vampires. Schools were shut down. The shops were empty. People shut themselves off in their apartment and pulled out their old rifle from under the bed. Even the Wall Streets were quiet. Steve refused to listen to the calculation of the economic loss and future decrease in GDP in TVs and other media. Money wasn't the most important thing right now.

 

In a plaque like this, people resorted to different ways to make sense of the reality now. Perhaps it wouldn't be so bad if the monsters didn't wear your colleagues, your friends, even your love's face. There had to be something, something of them inside, right? Something that could be reasoned to? Some people even hid their infected relatives, thought that there was a chance; there must be a chance...

 

There was never a chance.

 

Steve heard that there was a strange... should it be called cult? The people with a bent mentality thought they could be spared if they looked and acted like the zombies. The extremists even ran among the crowd. Of course they were not spared from the bite, but also some were so alike that they were killed instead of the zombies.

 

In another fight, "I'll prefer them to be the Hollywood vampires," Clint said, when he was shooting his gun at the zombies.. "At least then we'll need to know how to deal. Garlic, cross and shot guns shooting wooden stakes all the way."

 

"That's a reason why this's real life, not Hollywood," Wanda said, summoning a hex circle that transformed a zombie into a cat..

 

Jan flew high and shot a blast at another zombie. "Hey, Wanda, Can you pull a reality into one that zombies didn't exist?"

 

"I wish. However, according to my calculation, it has the same chance of pulling a reality that we're all infected and doomed," Wanda said.

 

Steve said, "Then we'll need to work the harder way," when he shot his gun.

 

This time they drove some zombies back. It might not be an entire war, but Steve treasured the small victory.

 

 

* * *

 

 

  
"If things continue, New York has to be quarantined." Fury said at an Ultimates briefing. He looked tired. The serum had its effect on enhancing vitality, but even it had limits. Steve knew that if he looked at himself, he wouldn't look good either. Stark was outright the only person to keep his eyes open and clear, but then Steve only saw him living on alcohol.

 

"Is the situation so bad?"

 

"It's so bad."

 

"Well, until everyone here becomes a zombie and start to bite each other, it wouldn't be too bad," Stark said.

 

"What should we do? We can't let New York die."

 

"Guys?" Jan asked.

 

"Yes, Jan?" Steve asked.

 

"I suppose that as this can be compared to a plague outbreak, we can use the known methods to deal with it. . Any plague outbreak will pass, but the most important thing is we need to isolate the cause of the vamprism. Then we can develop a cure of it."

 

"So?"

 

"I need samples. Vampire samples."

 

"All right, vampire delivery then," Stark said.

 

Jan looked tired, but then she worked nearly non-stop in a lab doing essential research. However, there was a soft glow from Jan. It was a glow of confidence and achievement.

 

"How's your research?"

 

"Good. I'm doing a tissue development...."

 

There were a lot of jargons. Steve learnt, and he learnt fast, but at the end he was sixty years behind.

 

Maybe that was why they couldn't work, a little voice said. Maybe he was destined for loneliness.

 

Enough. He was a soldier in a war. There was no time to be sentimental. Perhaps he became too soft now, Steve scolded himself lightly. When the conversation stopped, Steve told Jan wholeheartedly, "Take care of yourself."

 

"I will."

 

 

* * *

 

 

When Steve returned to the Mansion, he heard Stark's voice. "You need a rest. Even a super soldier has limit." Stark said. He looked sombre. That was when Steve began to worry. Sombre didn't suit Stark.

 

"But we have work to do."

 

"Drink." Stark handed him a glass and said firmly. "It'll always help."

 

"Is it your mantra?" Steve asked, but drunk it anyway.

 

"It's the best mantra I can find."

 

Steve looked at Stark, really looked at Stark. "Have you eaten your meal?"

 

"This," Stark raised his glass.

 

Steve was suddenly angry. "This's a war. You can't afford to live like this."

 

"And you're eating well either?"

 

Steve was silent. Then he pulled Stark to the kitchen, opened the fridge, took some hams and eggs and cooked them. He shared a half of it to Stark, half expecting that Stark refused, but surprised that Stark took a fork and started to eat.

 

They finished the meal in silence.

 

 

* * *

 

 

Steve met Jan in the Mansion. It was rare because Jan usually spent all the time in the lab, developing a cure. Today she looked tired.

 

"How're you doing?" Steve asked.

 

Jan said, "I'm working with CDC on the source of vampire zombies. Never expect that my degrees will be used this way."

 

"No one can expect it," Steve said.

 

"Anyway, from the pattern of infection, the first people to show symptoms are all connected with SHIELD."

 

"It's obvious."

 

"But it does lead to a lead."

 

"Do you mean...."

 

"Yes. The SHIELD is the source. We just don't know it's an attack against SHIELD, or a lab experiment went wrong."

 

"Does the CDC know?"

 

"No. It's highly confidential hush hush. Fury wasn't pleased with my discovery, but he had to bow to my figures."

 

"Find the culprit inside the SHIELD, and we can locate the source."

 

"Correct."

 

 

* * *

 

 

Steve lost sense of time. When the days and night were repeated and repeated killing zombies and resting, calendar and clock doesn't seem to mean anything at all.

 

At another meeting, Jan looked serious. "I have bad news to break to you."

 

"Do tell."

 

Jan said, "I study the sample of the vampric zombies bodies and the mutated DNA. Then I compare it to the regular samples of SHIELD agents' blood. It's found in Neo too."

 

"You mean... But Neo seems normal."

 

"Neo's probably the patient zero."

 

Steve looked at her with a blank face. Jan sighed. "Patient zero is an index case for infectious disease outbreaks... Have you heard of Typhoid Mary?"

 

"Of course."

 

"Well, Typhoid Mary's the patient zero of typhoid outbreak."

 

"If Neo's spreading the disease like Typhoid Mary, We have to find Neo and put him away then. It's highly possible that he's away from New York, spreading the vamprism," Fury interrupted.

 

Jan said, "Definitely. It has to be done soon as possible."

 

"I'll do it," Steve volunteered.

 

The others were silent for awhile Then Fury asked, "Are you sure?"

 

"Yes. "

 

"All right. We'll wait for your good news."

 

 

* * *

 

 

Steve followed the traces to Neo's hiding place. It wasn't easy, with Neo using the espionage skills he learnt at SHIELD to hide his trace. However, a line of bodies were hard to eradicate. Neo was smart. He didn't use any electric currency. Never used public transport. For Steve's knowledge, he disappeared into the crowd. Steve started from the last place he was seen and followed Neo by the zombie outbreak he induced. Neo was cunning in that he chose the sparser populated area, and the zombie attack would then be slow to spread around the other places. He surely travelled for a long distance, Steve thought, when he pinned the numbers on the map. But anyone made mistakes and Steve finally located him in a motel.

 

Steve faced Neo. He hardened his heart and said, "Surrender! Otherwise you'll face no mercy."

 

"No. I know what you guys want to do to me. I'd prefer a fight, or a flight." Neo said and pulled out a gun.

 

Steve jumped out the way of the gun when it was shot. Then he threw his shield to knock the gun off Neo's hand. Neo wanted to catch his gun again, but Steve was ready for him and pounced on him. They wrestled. Sweat came out of Steve's forehead. Neo was as fast and strong, if not faster and stronger than himself. But Steve had the experience as an advantage. Besides, he fought Hulk.

 

They wrestled, rolling on the ground. There was no grace, no mercy, both of them just tried to use every skill and technique they learnt to kill each other. They looked into each other's eyes and knew that this was a war, and they were fighting on different side. That's all. Steve was in a state of trance he was always him when he was at the front, mind analyzing every moves of the enemy, finding the every weakness that could convert into chance and opportunities, fighting with every might of his strength. Time went still in battle, until finally Steve had his shield to Neo's neck.

 

"Do it," Neo whispered.

 

"Why? We may be able to quarantine you, like Typhoid Mary..."

 

"You're too naive if you think so. Besides, I can never be near my family again. Do it."

 

Steve did.

 

When Steve thumped his shield on Neo's neck, he thought he could almost see a peaceful smile on Neo's face.

 

Everything ended, right?

 

Steve said to his team mates over the com, "Target neutralized."

 

When he went out, the sky was sharply bright. Steve nodded to the SHEILD agents in containment suits who then went to deal with the bodies.

 

The death of Neo was almost an anti-climax. A great threat was removed, but the numbers of zombies on the street was still staggering. A talk show host darkly hinted of an air attack, which fortunately didn't become true, but Steve supposed that he would never realized how near the truth it was. Day after day, night after nights, they finally pushed back.

 

Then Steve received a file containing a chemical formula with only a message, "It may help. She said hi." Steve deleted the message after copying the attachment and sent to Jan. Jan asked where he got it, and Steve only sad, "From a friend." and refused to disclose the source.

 

After a few days Jan returned from the lab and had a shining smile. "Eureka!"

 

Steve asked, "What's happened?"

 

"With the formula you gave me, I manage to make a breakthrough with my experiment result and develop a serum that can neutralize the pathogen."

 

"You mean..."

 

"The infected patients, if not infected for too long, could be cured from the situation. "

 

"It's... wonderful." Steve was excited enough to hold her hands.

 

Jan looked at him, embarrassed. Steve retreated his hands, not quite knowing what to say. Then Jan said, "I'll tell the news to others."

 

At least with this Jan developed a serum to cure the recently bitten from turning into zombies. This was a relief, Steve thought. He refused to think about what could have been between Jan and him. There was a war to fight.

 

Humans were fighting back.

 

The New York National Guard adopted semi-automatic rifles and formation firing. Troops were retrained to focus on head shots and slow, steady rates of fire, and a multipurpose hand tool. Meanwhile, Stark developed a prototype of weapon that could focus on zombies' head. The bullets were running out, the food was going low, but Steve knew that the nameless people who despite danger replenished New York would be forever remembered by the city. The other breakthrough was that Jan developed a vaccine to prevent the personals to be infected in the first place.

 

Then the vampric zombies were just gone.

 

Without a trace.

 

It was more unsettling than their appearance. At least there was a logic, a scientific reason behind their appearance. But the way they were gone? Nothing could explain it.

 

No one believed it at first. Steve continue to patrol the streets with the surviving members of cops, SHEILD agents and the National Guards. The vampric zombies were intelligent. It was possible that they only hid from human sight and would continue their invasion soon after. New York was empty because the people stuck there holed up while other survived in some kind of makeshift stronghold or shut themselves in their flats. Some gang occupied the malls and other places as their strongholds. But even though it was a temporary relief, Steve still treasured the time to regroup their effort.

 

Then another week passed. Still there were no signs of the vampric zombies. The mayor cautiously proclaimed that the invasion ended, not forgetting to contribute it to his effort.

 

When people finally accepted this as truth, people were ecstatic. They came back into the streets to celebrate. It might not have been among the biggest parades Steve had ever seen, but it might have been one of the most cheerful. Humans won, although there seemed to be no apparent reasons at all.

 

However, there was a dark lining to the silver cloud. Every family lost someone they cared about or knew. Office workers returned to see the empty seats of their colleagues. A child returned to her school, stared at an empty seat, frozen, until it was filled by her classmates. The child stared at her, then threw her arms around her. "Thank god! I thought I would never see you again. Why were you late?" Some parents association talked about removing World War Z from the library because they 're concerned about the trauma caused to the children. Suicide rate shot to the new high. Steve thought that ironic --- on the one hand the same people who survived the whole outbreak chose to take their lives when everything was peaceful. On the other hand, Steve could understand the feeling of having no one to return to.

 

But New York would recover from it, Steve knew, and firmly told himself so. There was a long way to go, but New York would reach there.

 

* * *

 

Steve was summoned by the top brass of the army to his office. The colonel wore his dress uniform and looked up at him.

 

"Do you know how big a mistake you made?" The colonel said.

 

"No, sir."

 

"Imagine what use can this be if you don't stupidly kill them? They're practically vampire version of Typhoid Mary. We can send them worldwide and infect hostile countries with the virus. Now we have nothing."

 

"I am sorry, sir." Steve said overtly politely.

 

The colonel either didn't notice or just ignored it. "We're disappointed in you."

 

It was a mutual feeling, Steve thought.

* * *

The Ultimates held a press conference as usual when a disaster hit New York. People wanted to know answers, and Miss Ross said quick publicity response was essential. Their questions were sharp: Why didn't it happen? Why didn't you act earlier? Why did you let so many people die? Were the vampire linked to the government or a terrorist attack? What would the Ultimate do to ensure no further similar incident would happen? Their questions were laced with anger, tinted with fear. People were afraid. They needed someone to blame, someone to reassure them that everything would be all right.

 

Steve had nothing for them.

 

Steve suffered through the routine, reciting the script prepared by Miss Ross, saying a lot "no comment". Maybe in another world, he would be more proactive, to try to act as a beacon of light, but in this world he was only a soldier, to act according to his mission.

 

But was it enough?

 

Steve didn't want to think further.

 

After the conference ended, his mobile phone rang. Steve received it.

 

"How're you,Steve?" It was Bucky's voice.

 

"Fine. The doctor's going to check me out. How're you?"

 

"Do you remember... do you remember Shallot?"

 

"Your granddaughter? The one who always wants to be a baseball player? Yes. How's she?"

 

"She's bitten."

 

"What? Don't worry. The serum..."

 

"I know. I just... I just worry, though. You know how old people are."

 

"You're not old."

 

"Only you'll say that."

 

"...I'm sorry."

 

"Sorry for what? It's the vampires' fault."

 

Sorry for everything. Steve didn't say.

 

"Just come someday, all right? Gail and I both miss you."

 

"Of course I will."

 

Steve and Bucky talked for awhile. Steve held on to the phone for a while even after the call broke off. Then he went to SHIELD headquarters because he had nowhere else to go.

 

Steve had just left from the SHIELD headquarters. There it was so empty that it was almost creepy. The agents there walked with slower steps, and even their shadows were heavier, as if they were mourning the people died in a mindless pandemic brought by himself. He wondered if they secretly blamed him. He didn't talk with the people here, only returning to the mansion as soon as possible when he got discharged from the body-check-up. On his way to the door way he passed by Fury's office and didn't enter.

 

When he was driving to the Mansion, if he smelt harder, he still could vaguely smell the burnt flesh, ashes and residue of blood. The streets of New York were relatively empty, considering the time of the day. He knew New York would rise again, no matter what, but at what price?

 

When he arrived at the Mansion, he went to the living room, sat on the sofa and switched on the television.

 

It wasn't what he wanted to see.

 

The first channel he switched into repeatedly playing the footage of vampires devouring screaming people. One of the vampires with a deformed face wore a ruffled police officer's uniform, with his gun at hand, tearing a piece of flesh out of his victim. The way the victim screamed... Steve muted the sound and switched onto the next channel.

 

The second channel showed different footage. The camera was shaking, as if the carrier had been recording while running. The images was such fuzzy and unclear. But it just left more places for imagination, to give faces to the sounds and shouts. At the end one hand thumped on the camera, a voice shouted, "I love you mum!" Then nothing. Complete black.

 

The third channel was a talk show, where the host with red-rimmed eyes read out from a long list. Today a boy lost his father, while the father carried his children in his arm so hard that the rescue players had to pile open his arms to get the unhurt child. Today a family lost a mother. She loved tabletop gaming and next month would be her birthday. Her family was planning to give her a series of new Dragonlance books. Today a class of students mourned their teacher, who would never walk into the classroom again. Steve's eyes stuck to the show. He knew that he should switch to the other channel, but he couldn't . And he knew he would shoulder the pain with the rest of New York. He listened and listened, until the list of names melted into his body, his blood, brought into his heart, his dream along with other people he lost.

 

If only...

 

Steve felt rather than heard Stark walking toward him. Everyone had different steps and you only need to be careful to distinguish everyone's pattern. He liked to use it to surprise Jan. And when did he memorize Stark's?

 

He didn't know, and he didn't want to know.

 

"A drink?"

 

"No," he said. "Not in the mood."

 

Steve half expected Stark to insist, but Stark didn't say anything more. He just sat by him, quietly watching the TV with him. He put a hand on Steve's shoulder. Steve didn't withdraw from his touch. They just sat together, breathing the same breath.

  
"What do you think about the zombies' disappearance? Do you think they'll return?"

 

"Next time we'll be ready for them

 

"Definitely.

**Works inspired by this one:**

  * [A Thousand Changes: The Core Doesn't Change [ART]](https://archiveofourown.org/works/443592) by [Birddi](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Birddi/pseuds/Birddi)




End file.
